Inevitable
by Fondofreading
Summary: Eleana is from a wealthy pure blood family, and she was brought up with the beliefs that they were the finest in society unlike those with un pure blood. Even so, she herself didn't completely understand her family's strong beliefs, and when a young Sirius Black becomes involved with her life she feels the connection with him, yet she is forbidden to be near him.
1. New Discoveries

**1****st**** September, 1972**

* * *

_To pretend to love someone when you don't is hard, but to pretend not to love someone when you do, is unbearable._

* * *

"Now be good children" a slender looking woman said lovingly to her two children. Looking proud as she eyed them both, seeing to that everything was in order.

"And Behave" The children's father added, his voice grave.

The boy, which had just turned thirteen, was preoccupied with looking around for his friends which he thought must be somewhere on the station. The friends he had spent two school years with now, and whom he was now eager to see. Some of them he had actually met during the summer, since their families knew each other and shared the same belief of each having a pure family tree. He had seen Wilkes, Rutilus and Avery. He had shared a room with Avery during his first two years at Hogwarts, they had become good friends. But one he had not seen all summer was Mulciber.

Mr. Adela snapped his fingers In front of his son's face, the boy quickly turned his head to his father which was staring at him with a most severe look.

"That goes especially for you Eithan… Behave." He said.

The boy nodded perceptively. Then he heard a slight giggle coming from his little sisters mouth.

"Oh shut up!" he said and gave her an angry look.

The sister was silenced by those words and she looked away, slightly hurt. Their mother gasped at her son's words and looked around, afraid that someone had heard.

"Watch the language young man!" said the father with an angry tone.

"Brant, we can't let him talk that way" said the mother quietly with worry in her voice. Melanie Adela, the children's mother, was a very proud woman, just like their father, and she was also very keen on making their family look the very best to everyone else. She was a perfectionist and the slightest embarrassment went straight to her heart, and hurt just as any curse would. In fact, if she were to face a boggart it would be of her little family shattered and embarrassed in front of all of the other pure-blood families, and the shame would presumably kill her. In spite of all this, she was a very caring woman, and looked after everyone in her family. She treated her children with motherly love, and never shunned them. She also disliked to punish them, therefore she left that duty to her husband.

Eithan looked down, and then when his father wasn't looking he shot his sister an most accusing look, like it was her fault that he'd been lectured.

Melanie looked at her daughter and then she bent down to hug her. The girl wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and hugged her tight. It would be quite scary to leave her parents for several months, she thought, they wouldn't see each other until Christmas.

"Oh! Eleana, take care now… and make us proud." Said Mrs. Adela as a few tears streamed down her cheeks. She hugged her daughter Eleana tightly before letting her go, then she moved on to her son and hugged him just as tightly. He didn't looked too pleased with this, just annoyed.

Eleana looked up at her father, he was quite a tall man, and she was short for her age which made him seem even taller to her than he actually was. He looked fondly at her with his blue eyes, and hers resembled his a lot actually, only the look in her eyes was far more innocent and not as experienced or hardened by life as his were.

Mr. Adela touched one of her two light braids and smiled when she smiled.

"Good luck… and remember that spell I taught you?"

She nodded.

"Good, now use it if somebody's being too mean." He said sternly, but with a smile.

"But don't get yourself in trouble." Her mother reminded her when she heard her husband's advice.

"Yes, mother" she said smilingly. Then she turned to her father again and hugged him tight, laying her cheek against his chest. He put one of his arms around her and held her close.

Their mother was snivelling and took out a napkin in gray silk from her pocket, it was soon stained with tears.

Soon, the conductor shouted that all should take their place for the train was leaving in 10 minutes.

Mr. Adela let go of his daughter and when she looked up at him he lovingly touched her cheek.

"Now you must go, so you don't miss the train." He said.

Eleana was then once again hugged by her mother.

Mr. Adela laid his hand briefly on his son's shoulder and said:

"Take care of your sister."

"I will." Eithan mumbled, and then turned and walked to the train followed by his sister. Amongst mist from the train, she looked back one more time and waived at her parents before stepping on the train.

Once on the train, they had to go through a small corridor, and a lot of people still hadn't taken their place and were all searching for their friends or just an empty compartment to sit in. Then her brother almost bumped into another boy, they both gave each other a very stern unpleasant look, almost like they hated each other.

Eleana looked at the dark haired boy. He was a little shorter than her brother and had black hair that went down to his neck, and a posture unlike her brothers. Her brother was a little stiff, and walked upright because he was proud. This other boy showed the opposite, that he didn't care and was proud because of that. They were equally proud but in different ways.

She remembered this boy, he was of the family Black, the family her family were acquaintance with. Even so, Sirius and Eleana didn't know each other, since Sirius didn't seem to get along with the others. She had only seen him once, when her family was visiting the Blacks. Although, he seemed to spend most of his time in his room, therefore she'd only seen him briefly, once.

Eithan looked at his sister standing behind him, and took her by the arm. Sirius merely glanced at her before he walked away. As soon as he looked at her she looked away and let her brother lead her in the opposite direction.

Her brother took her to the last cart of the train, and there she saw a few people she recognised. Some were distant relatives, and some were just acquaintances of her family.

"Shut the door behind you." Her brother said, and she slid the door shut.

"Adela, we were beginning to think that you'd missed the train." Avery said. He was the same age as Eithan, and quite tall for his age, with dark blonde hair on his head.

"Sorry to disappoint you." Eithan said with a playful smile. His friends all grinned, Mulciber, Wilkes, Avery, and another boy she didn't know the name of.

"Well, well... little sister joining the club." Mulciber then said and eyed the little blonde girl. He had broad shoulders, and brown dark hair, the same as the colour of his eyes. There was no need for introductions, Mulciber and the other two all knew who she was, they had visited her brother at home several times.

Eleana smiled politely and sat down in between Wilkes and her brother, Eithan had already placed himself near the window. She glanced at the boy sitting across from her brother, also by the window. He was the only one she'd never met before.

"Hi" he said when he made eye contact with her, while showing a smile he reached out a hand. She took it and shook it politely, giving him a little smile in return.

"I'm Acacius Rutilus." He added.

"Eleana." She said.

Apparently Rutilus was in his second year, just like Wilkes and Mulciber was.

"I bumped into Sirius Black..." Eithan began.

Avery looked at him like he had slapped him by simply mentioning the name, the others also showed quite similar faces.

"He's as charming as ever." He continued to say in a resentful tone.

"That Black is unworthy of his name... He's a traitor, and doesn't appreciate his blood status one bit. I'd say, a blood traitor is almost worse than a mudblood." Wilkes said with a voice full of disgust.

"Someone should put an end to 'im then." Said Mulciber who was sitting next to Avery, leaning against the wall in the corner.

"Oh I'd like to" Avery said with a devilish smile on his lips.

Mulciber just laughed and Eithan simply smiled. None of them actually though he was serious, they were just kids talking, trying to be like their parents. They had all been taught to dislike people who had 'unpure blood' and they had learned that they were superior to everyone else just because they were from wealthy and pure blood families, that was the best combination, they thought.

Eleana heard a lot of similar conversations from now on, degrading talks of other people who wasn't like them, 'pure'. She had always been surrounded by people with these beliefs. Affected by those thoughts she couldn't help but believing them. Although, she had always found it a little strange why other people couldn't be just as good as them because they weren't pure or rich, or fitted their description of good. She wondered what it was that made them so bad.

Soon she was sorted into Slytherin, as expected, and during her first months at the school she discovered that other students from other houses weren't so bad. Many of them seemed to be very kind, and clever. A muggleborn from Ravenclaw actually did a spell perfectly on the very first try in their transfiguration class. Eleana was quite shocked, since she had heard that they all were less intelligent, unworthy of magic, etc. Apparently all that wasn't true, according to her own eyes.

The first year at Hogwarts was great, she thought. In the beginning of the year she made some other friends, apart from those she didn't knew from before, Camilla Dolohov, daughter to Antonin Dolohov, and Caren Rosier, brother to Evan Rosier. Caren and Camilla were both Slytherins in their first year at Hogwarts. They were quite similar to her brother Eithan and his friends, except they were girls. They shared the same beliefs, and Camilla and Caren both enjoyed spilling gossip and looking down at people whom they thought were less worthy of their attention, in particular those with _un pure_ blood.

Apart from all of that they were good friends and she felt she could depend on them, in the same way she could depend on her family. Eleana could spend time with them, as she ought to do, but she found herself wanting more and more to be alone, rather than with them. Not just them, but also her brother and his friends. This feeling was building up during forthcoming years, and as she grew she was getting closer to realising who she really was, and what she believed in.


	2. Relatively Familiar

**1****st**** September, 1976**

* * *

Young Sirius Black, beginning his sixth year at Hogwarts, caught the sight of a mass of blonde hair flowing behind a girls back as she walked down the corridor, it was quite crowded on the train so she couldn't walk very fast. He noticed she was wearing a summer dress, it was deep blue and hugged her forms. He couldn't help but eyeing her shape, but only for a second before he looked away, he couldn't stand around looking at some girl, he had more important things to do, for example: finding his friends.

He was going in the same direction as her though, so he just took one more peak while they were walking before looking into each compartment as he passed them, hoping to get a glimpse of James, Remus, or even Peter.

"Eleana, there you are!" Eithan said walking up to his sister and pushing himself through the small crowd that was blocking her way.

Sirius turned his head, as one does when hearing something and then instinctively tries to locate the sound. As soon as he saw Eithan Adela he felt a grimace of disgust coming on, but then his mouth almost dropped when he saw who he was talking to.

"I started to think you got lost or something." Eithan said mockingly.

"Brother, I think after five years that I'm relatively familiar with this train." Eleana said.

Sirius tried to remember if Eithan Adela had a sister, surely he did, he'd seen her before. She was just another student passing him by in the corridors during previous years. Then why was he noticing her now?

'Whatever' he thought. They all looked the same to him, Slytherins, ugh. And 'the Gang of Slytherins' was the worst kind. This Eleana, if he had heard the name correctly, surely was just as bad as them. He reminded himself to not 'check out' a girl again.

* * *

Eithan sat down next to Avery and Mulciber. Wilkes and Acacius Rutilus were also sitting around the same table. Eithan was in his final year at Hogwarts, and so was Avery. But Rutilus, Wilkes and Mulciber was in their sixth year.

"You found her" Avery said cheerfully when Eithan returned followed by Eleana.

"Hi, Avery." She said and smiled weakly.

Acacius Rutilus said 'hi' to Eleana, and gave her a smile like he always did when saying hello to her. She greeted him just like she used to, also with a smile.

Then she said 'hi' to some others in the compartment, as she passed them by to sit with Camilla and Caren in another table. This was a big compartment, with tables in between several seats of brown leather.

"Eleana! Hi." Caren said. Camilla was smiling, and they all had a lot to talk about with each other.

"I can't believe we're already beginning out fifth year." Caren said.

"Yeah..." Eleana assented. "It's hard to believe."

"You had a good summer?" Camilla began to ask with a voice as sweet as a cauldron cake.

"It was good..." Eleana said. "Did you have a good time in France?"

"Yes, it was great!"

"You just think it's great because of that _Alexandre_." Caren said, pronouncing the name with an exaggerated French accent.

"Who's Aleaxandre?" Eleana wondered, now curious.

Camilla's cheeks turned red, and Caren gave her a little nudge with her elbow while laughing teasingly .

"Come on! Tell her now."

"Alright!" Camilla said and sighed, her shoulders relaxing. And so she began to tell the story...

* * *

Acacius Rutilus now and then glanced towards Eleana. He watched her talk gleefully with her friends, her hair flowing behind her back, it had grown since he had last seen her and it now went down all the way to her waist. It was light, not as light as the very first time he had met her, but still blonde. She seemed to have grown quite a lot this summer. She wasn't as skinny anymore, well she was still thin, but she had bumps he'd never seen before. He found them most appealing, and that dress showed them off in a delightful way. He couldn't stop thinking of how pretty she was. To watch her was almost entrancing, like a veela, and that smile she had just given him made his insides grow warm, in a pleasant way.

He thought more and more of her, each year his feelings for her grew stronger and now he found himself to be in love. Just now, when he saw her he thought she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He only needed the courage to tell her.

"Hey! Rutilus... ey! " Wilkes said. Acacius had to tear his dreamlike gaze from her to look at his friend.

"Didn't you get enough sleep or something, your eyes seem to have stuck." Wilkes continued.

Acacius looked at them, a little confused. Eithan Adela looked at him while frowning.

That caused Acacius to look down, feeling a little guilty. Eleana was also one of his best friends' sister.

"Yeah, I guess I'm just tired" he said, wanting them to stop looking at him like that.

A few seconds passed before Avery spoke.

"However, as I said... " Avery continued, and to Acacius relief, no one seemed to have noticed who he was looking at.

* * *

**There's more chapters coming up soon! I'm very thankful for every review I recieve, and I hope you have enjoyed reading the story so far ;)**


	3. Gaining and Losing

**14 September, 1976**

After eating lunch Eleana headed to one of the green houses accompanied by Camilla and Caren. Their herbology class began soon after they had arrived, and Professor Pomona Sprout placed a green plant on the table they were all gathered around. It looked harmless, until she explained that this was a 'Fanged Geranium' and it could attack by biting you if it was not taken care of. Then the plant moved slightly and opened what looked like a mouth, as if it was smiling, and it showed off several sharp teeth while doing it. Eleana could not imagine that it would be pleasant to receive a bite from it.

After they had been given instructions they were sorted into pairs, Eleana was paired with a girl from Ravenclaw. Camilla then touched her shoulder and sighed while looking at her as if she pitied her.

"I'll be fine." Eleana said, just to calm her friends. She herself didn't have anything against this girl, but she knew why her friends did. She walked over to Fiona, which from what she knew was very clever and she had been impressed by her during their first year when she did a spell perfectly on the first try, while it took everyone else twenty minutes and much wand waving. However, the reason Eleana's friends didn't approve of her, was because she was from a muggle family.

Eleana and Fiona began by reading the instructions on the board once again, carefully, so they wouldn't do anything incorrect and get bitten. Then they did the best they could, and they seemed to make a good team for the plant didn't seem to be angered at all. Eleana liked Fiona more and more, they both had the same humour. They had some things in common too, Fiona's favourite subject was also Astronomy.

They had become friends without really knowing it, and after that they said 'hello' to each other when seeing one another in the hall, and they sometimes studied together during break or after dinner. Eleana really enjoyed Fiona's company and she wasn't as stuck up as many of the others in Eleana's life. She was kind and smart, and not just book smart. This could have been a beautiful friendship, unfortunately it didn't last very long. Merely a month later it was over.

* * *

**10 October, 1976**

"No! Don't give me that rubbish!" Eleana shouted angrily.

"What's wrong with you?" Eithan said, not understanding why she was so angry all of a sudden, and not appreciating her tone.

"What's wrong with me?!" she asked, thinking that he must be joking. "What is wrong with you? You despise people who haven't done you anything. Why do you feel the need to look down and pick on them?"

"Where is all this coming from?" he now sounded quite worried about her thoughts. "This is the way it is Eleana, they're not like us."

She just sighed, disappointed, and felt like it was completely hopeless to talk to him about this, he simply couldn't understand how she was feeling.

"I don't appreciate that you sent Avery to hex my friend."

"Come on, why would you even care, she's a mudblood-"

"please don't say that." she said with a sad and tired tone as she looked at him.

He looked into her eyes and couldn't understand what had gotten into her.

"You had to ruin the only friendship I had."

"Well, then it wasn't a very good friendship since she abandoned you after a little hex."

"One of her ears nearly fell off!"

Eithan sighed, and just gave her a look of concern. When he spoke he sounded frustrated.

"Why don't you hang out with us anymore then? And I'm sure Caren and Camilla wants you as their friend again, you've been ignoring all of us lately."

" 'Cause all you do is talk of 'pure' and 'un pure' blood. I want to be surrounded by people who for one second, can care for something else."

"Oh come on! Don't be so sensitive."

"I'm just being human, and you are all being mean for a stupid reason."

"A stupid reason? Talking of stupid, you're acting fairly stupid. What if our father heard you now, defending mudbloods."

She was taken aback by the mentioning of their father, it was true, if their father heard her now he would be displeased. But she just found it so cruel.

"Don't call her that." she simply said with a low voice. Then she saw Rutilus turning around the corner and walking towards them. She sighed at the sight of him and crossed her arms, she just didn't want anyone else to interfere.

"Hey, I was wondering where you guys went." Acacius said.

"You've come to lecture me too?" she said.

He frowned, looking surprised. On the inside he felt slightly hurt by the way she talked to him, he tried not to show it though. She had never been so angry with him, it was obvious she also blamed him for what happened.

She turned around and started to walk. Eithan just looked annoyed, and started to walk away in another direction. He grabbed Acacius by the arm.

"No wait, I think I'll talk to her." He said, gesturing for Eithan to let go.

"Good luck with that." he said and kept on walking.

Acacius went after Eleana, and hurried his steps to catch up with her. He found her walking down the spiral staircase.

"Eleana wait!" he said, and to his surprise she stopped. She looked at him with tired blue eyes.

"What do you want?"

"I just want to say something." He said and stopped in front of her.

She looked at him, waiting for him to speak but he didn't, he just stood there.

"Well, let's hear it." She said impatiently.

"W- Well… " he began to say, feeling nervous all of a sudden. He was alone with her, and that didn't happen very often since they were always surrounded by their friends whenever they met.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay." He said and gave her a weak smile.

She just raised her eyebrows.

"Which you clearly aren't." he hurried to say when seeing her expression. She still looked annoyed, and he really wanted to make her smile again.

She saw the innocent look in his eyes, and sighed. She couldn't really be angry with Acacius, he was always nice to her, but she could not ignore the fact that he was involved with treating her friend the way they had.

"It was horrible what you did to Fiona." She said.

"I know… I had no idea that Avery was going to do that! It was an impulsive thing, and I apologize for his actions."

He sounded truly sorry about it all, and she couldn't help but to give him a soft little smile. When he saw her smiling he immediately felt relieved, and shrugged.

"I don't want you to get hurt." He said.

She looked into his eyes, and when she did he could see that she was still sad.

"Let's go to the common room. " she said, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible because she felt tears coming on, and the thickness in her throat didn't help. Still, she managed not to sound too miserable.

Acacius nodded perceptively.

* * *

The following morning everyone seemed to know about the incident, and they all talked of how it had happened. Everyone seemed to have different knowledge of what happened. Only a few knew the truth of what had actually taken place. All the stories were horrible, it didn't matter who told it, a Gryffindor or a Slytherin, they all exaggerated and either glorified Avery or made him sound villainous. Either way, it was extreme.

Eleana held her books against her chest while walking down the hall. She noticed the glares and she heard the whispering coming from people. Even so, she tried to keep her head high and not let it get to her.

"Tell your friends to pick on people their own size instead." Said a boy standing by the window. He had turned to her and now he was looking accusingly at her, his voice harsh.

She just glanced at him, keeping a straight face before she looked away and kept on walking as she had this whole time.

You may think that when all the other houses looked at her angrily, the Slytherins would embrace her, but that was not the case. See, they knew she had spent time with a muggleborn, and they all found it very strange, and some were repulsed by the thought. Her brother had, to ease her trouble and to keep his family's reputation intact, been telling people that she had not actually been friends with that girl. Only that she had a gentle heart, and that had caused her to pity the girl. Eleana was very angry with him when she found out what he was telling people, but it did ease the Slytherins recent, but for the other houses it only made them dislike her more. Fiona didn't even want to speak with her, she had visited her in the hospital wing and Eleana had realised that Fiona now hated her.

She felt more lost than ever, and more alone than ever. Torn between two sides, torn between what she wanted to be like, and what her family wanted her to be like. But she told herself she had gotten herself in this mess, and it was her choices that had led her to here.

* * *

**Author's note: I know Sirius wasn't in this chapter, but don't worry there's gonna be more of him from now on. Also, I think that this chapter was important for understanding and getting to know Eleana. Thank you all for the response I get, and thanks for reading ;) (I'll keep posting chapters on a regular basis)**


	4. Discovering a Secret

**17 October, 1976**

She was out, and she was alone. Taking a deep breath of relief she felt free, which she usually never did. She walked, trying to be easy on her feet to not make a sound. Looking around she saw no one, where was she to go? 'This is such a stupid thing to do' she thought to herself, feeling foolish which she knew she was. She was usually smarter than this. She had been a good girl all her life, making her parents proud and studying to get good grades for them to be happy about. Then why was she making life so difficult for herself? Associating with a muggleborn had sent her mother to bed for three whole days, that's how mortified she was. They had all tried to 'shush' it down lately, and Eleana didn't encourage it but she didn't try to stop them either.

Her father had sent her a letter in which he expressed his deep concern, and in the end of the letter he wrote that it all must be a misunderstanding of some sort, and that she had just pitied the girl and therefore talked with her. '_I know how delicate your heart is, and you are kind towards everyone. But you do not have to be nice with every single person._' He'd written. She supposed her brother had been told that by their father too, and he had encouraged Eithan to spread it around for the family's sake, and for Eleana's. They were all trying to protect her.

It all made her angry, and she felt like she was suffocating. Now she was more encouraged than ever to be proud of her pure blood. She also felt this horrible duty to make her family proud by being someone she was not.

As she reached a small corridor she heard the sound of a lamp dangling from someone's hands. It squeaked distantly, and she felt her heart racing. If she got caught she would be in an even bigger mess than she already was. She mentally slapped herself for sneaking out of her dorm.

She looked around for a place to hide, and saw an open door. She went inside and found it to be a small bathroom with two stalls. She went inside one of the stalls and closed the door behind her, then she stepped up on the toilet seat so her feet wouldn't show if anyone were to look at the stall. She hoped nobody would try to open it.

The squeaking became louder, and soon she saw a shadow moving across the floor, someone was passing by the door to the bathroom. She didn't dare to peak. Then she heard him talking, it was Filch, it seemed like he was having a conversation with his beloved cat, Mrs Norris. She held her breath anxiously, and when they finally passed and the squeaking could no longer be heard, she breathed out. Before leaving the stall she wiped sweat from her brow with her sleeve.

'Now, just go back to the common room' she told herself. She bent forward and peaked her head out to look around in the hallway, first one way then the other. There was no sign of anybody. She started to walk in the direction she had come from earlier. Paranoid that anyone would find her, she looked around anxiously. The figures in the paintings were all sleeping soundly, and they were not woken up by her soundless steps.

When she was about to go down the stairs to the dungeons, she heard voices. Immediately she went down a few steps and laid her back against the wall, letting the shadows cover her. She stood still and just listened, waiting for whoever it was to go away.

"Ow, Prongs you stepped on my foot!" a boy said. He had a rather developed voice, it must be someone in year six or seven, she thought.

"Well if your feet weren't so huge I wouldn't have stepped on them." Said the other boy.

"Just wait till we get outside, I will-"

"Lads! Please be quiet." Another boy said, apart from the others he didn't sound as temperamental, though he seemed to be somewhat annoyed with the other two.

"there is no need to fight..." a little voice squeaked quietly.

She realised that she recognised these voices. It took her a few seconds before she figured it out, but now it was obvious. It was those obnoxious Gryffindors, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter..? (she couldn't remember his whole name) and Sirius Black. They used to hex people all the time, and were bullies in her eyes. Although, come to think of it, sometime around the end of last year they didn't do that anymore. Maybe they had grown a little and wasn't as childish anymore. The only one they picked a fight with now was Severus.

Severus Snape loathed them, she understood that, they had bullied him for several years, but she knew Snape wasn't innocent either. She wondered if it had something to do with the fact that Lily was Potter's friend now, Snape had been good friends with Lily before he got into the dark arts. He, Avery, Mulciber and her brother, had all become a little obsessed with it. Eleana didn't like the dark arts, it scared her a bit, and she had told her brother not to be into that stuff, he didn't listen however.

"Finally" a voice said, and she guessed it was Sirius.

"Now watch your big feet when we exit, I don't want to step on them again."

"If Moony wasn't turning tonight I would occupy myself with turning you into a-"

"SHhhh!" Lupin said.

Apparently they had found a way out, and they were going outside. But everything was locked at this hour, it was impossible to go outside. But it sounded as if they had still found a way. 'and what was that about 'Moony_ turning_ tonight' she wondered.

She glanced towards the sound of them, and saw four boys taking off an invisibility cloak. Then Potter opened a secret exit, it wasn't visible, but when he pressed in the eye of a sculpture beside it with his thumb, the contours of a little door became visible and swung open. They all had to bend down to go inside what looked to be a tunnel.

Eleana put a hand over her mouth, astonished by what she had seen. She glanced back towards the darkness of the stairs that led to the Slytherins' common room. Then she looked at where the door had been, it was gone now. She silently walked in the direction of it, and looked at the sculpture. It was a of a woman in stone, she covered her face with her grey hands which concealed her eyes a bit. In spite of that, there was still enough room to put in a finger to press in the left eye, just as Potter had done. When she did, the door reappeared and swung open, just as before. Eleana didn't hesitate, she went inside, and she only had to bend down a little since she was sort of small.

When she was inside, the little door closed behind her and she started to walk in the only direction she could without going back where she came from. The tunnel was a little bigger than the door, and she could almost walk upright without bumping her head into the ceiling. There were also torches placed in indentations along the wall, with a few meters of space between them.

She walked for a couple of minutes and then she saw another small door. She opened it and was met by a thick bush. The dark green leaves fell in her face, and she left the door ajar before struggling slightly to get through the bush. When she was trough she saw the night sky and a full moon gazing at her, it was white and glowing as it lit up the dark night. She trudged along the grass, and tried to get a prospect of where they had went.

Then, she heard a yap, something that sounded like a dog. She turned around and caught sight of three very big animals. She immediately looked around for a place to go, and saw a tree which she hid herself behind. She glanced on the animals again, and saw that they were all very different, she even caught sight of a fourth animal, it was very small so she hadn't noticed it at first.

A big dog, as black as a crow. A stag, and a little rat running around the others in the grass. Although, the biggest one of them all, and what had made her look for a hiding place so quickly, was the werewolf. She knew what it was, and it sent her heart hammering in her chest. The blood in her veins were pounding, and she regretted following those boys.

All of a sudden she could see the werewolf sniffing in the air, and then it's eyes fell on her. She gasped, and knew it had seen her. It had caught the smell of her, and now it was going to eat her.

She began to run, as fast as she could, and she could hear the werewolf setting after her, howling. Soon she heard a bark, and a yelp of pain. She glanced behind her, and saw that the werewolf was being attacked by the other big animals, the stag and the hound.

She didn't understand, she didn't even try to understand, right now she needed to get back in the castle, and if she did_, _she would never sneak out of the castle in the middle of the night again, she promised herself.

Suddenly the werewolf broke free of the others and caught up with her. Her breath got caught in her throat when she saw the animal come so close. It tried to scratch her, and she threw herself on the grass to deflect it. She grabbed the wand in her pocket, but realised it was too late, she would be dead before she could take out her wand. The beast stood leaned over her, and she could feel its breath in her face. 'Now I'm going to die' was all she though. But before she could barely finish the sentence in her head the werewolf was gored in the side by the stag. It caused it to move away from her, and then they were occupied in a fight.

She watched them with dim eyes and felt as if she would faint. The dizziness made it hard for her to stand, even so she crawled up into standing position and started to walk, then run.

She found the bush with leaves, and pushed herself through it. Behind it was the little door.

* * *

She ran down the stairs, and soon found the stone wall in the dungeons where the entrance to the common room was. Her head felt dizzy, and she tried to remember the password with difficulty. After a few seconds she did, and she said it with a strangled voice. She hadn't noticed that she was crying, but she was. A few tears were streaming down her cheeks, and she wiped them away with her trembling hand.

At the sight of the common room she felt safer, and let out a shaky breath of relief. The green colours made her calm, and she kept on walking headed for her bedroom.

Both Caren and Camilla were asleep, just as when she had left them. Camilla was snoring, and a mass of brown hair was spread across her sheets, she was hugging her pillow in a fondly grasp. Eleana was still in shock since the incident, but if she was in her normal state she would have found it rather cute and thought that Camilla was probably dreaming of that French boy she'd met during the summer.

Eleana laid down on her bed, with all of her clothes still on. She pulled the covers over herself and closed her eyes. All she saw was a werewolf, and it's claws ready to slice her. She found herself unable to sleep, therefore she opened her eyes and gazed up.

Time passed, and no matter how she twisted and turned she couldn't fall asleep. After hours of no sleep, she began to think of something else than the werewolf. She started to remember everything else she had seen, and heard.


	5. She Knows

**October 18, 1976**

The next morning she still had not slept, and when the clock struck six she got up. No one else seemed to be awake yet, so she quietly went to the bathroom.

She took a look at herself in the mirror and frowned, then sighed. Her clothes were torn here and there, she had something which looked similar to dust or dirt on her forehead and on one of her cheeks, and of course on her clothes too. There were also leaves in her tangled hair.

She grabbed her wand.

* * *

She walked to the Great Hall accompanied by Camilla and Caren who both seemed to be well rested.

"Sleep well?" Elena asked.

"Yes, very well." Caren said sounding pleased.

"You, Camilla?"

"Oh yes" she said cheerfully staring in front of her with a dreamy gaze.

Caren and Eleana shared a look, and just smiled.

They entered the Great Hall and sat down next to her brother and the others, Snape was also there, sitting beside Mulciber and the two of them seemed to be having an intriguing conversation. Eleana couldn't hear them though, since they were speaking quietly with each other.

Acacius was sitting in front of her, and he offered her a slice of bread. She took it with a polite smile.

"Thank you." She said.

She reached for the butter, and then the orange juice.

"You look a little tired." He said after a while.

"Do I?" she replied, in a tone that made it seem like she had no reason to be.

"Yeah, but who isn't tired in the morning." He then said with a shrug, hoping he hadn't offended her.

"These two are well rested apparently." Eleana said, hinting with her head to Camilla and Caren next to them.

"What can I say? I'm a morning person." Caren said casually.

Acacius nodded, then his eyes seemed to get fixed on something behind Eleana. Then he looked away only to look back at the same place again, the expression his face told her that he was seeing something that annoyed him, or rather displeased him.

"What is it?" she asked him, and turned her head to glance behind her.

It was Sirius Black and Remus Lupin who were staring at them, and they seemed to have a conversation about something while doing it. It looked as if Sirius was trying to calm Remus who was looking exceedingly concerned. When they saw that she was staring back at them they immediately stopped talking and looked in another direction.

Eleana turned back to Acacius again who was looking quite confused.

"What was that about?"

"I don't know." She said, and looked down at the slice of bread on her plate. She had noticed that both Sirius and Remus had small cuts here and there. Remus even had a big bruise on his temple, it looked as the size of a hoof.

"I have to go to the library" she said while in deep thought, and stood up to leave.

"Right now?" Acacius said, sounding a bit disappointed for some reason.

"Uh huh" she just mumbled, and before anyone could offer to come with her she was gone.

* * *

"She knows!" Remus said, devastated.

"Not necessarily." Sirius said, trying to console his friend.

"She knows it's me, she knows what I am." He kept saying, completely distraught, but still trying to keep his voice low.

"You have to talk to her." Remus continued to say.

"What?! Why me?" Sirius said, almost offended.

"She won't talk to me now when she knows, she won't get near me." Remus said depressingly and put his face in his hands.

"And you think she'll talk to me then?" Sirius said with a snort. "She knows my darling family, and her's just as fond of blood traitors as mine is… Believe me, she does not want to talk to me. You have a better chance than me." Sirius explained.

"Blimey, the best thing I ever did was leaving them." He said, thinking of his twisted family.

Lupin lowered his hands and looked over at Eleana's back, as did Sirius.

"Everyone will know…" Remus said like all hope was lost forever. He believed that she would most certainly spread it around, there wasn't anything keeping her from telling someone.

"No, it's not… It's not as she saw that it was actually us, I'm sure she just saw four animals."

"She could have seen us before... I remember I didn't look at the map very closely, not even for Filch. I was careless, and could easily have missed her… She probably followed us, how else would she have gotten outside in the middle of the night?"

Sirius admitted with a brief raise of his brows that it all made sense and could very well be the case, but he didn't wanna jump to any conclusions yet. For if she knew, it would cause them big trouble, which Remus expressed.

All of a sudden she was looking right at them, and Sirius nudged Remus slightly so he would notice it too, and they looked away. It probably looked real stupid, Sirius thought afterwards. When she had turned around again he looked at Remus who was still looking depressed.

"You have to talk to her." Remus said.

Sirius sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Prongs can do it" he then said brightening up as he looked past Remus to look at James. Remus looked at him hopefully.

James Potter looked at them, and frowned, he had heard their conversation and didn't seem to be thrilled about being elected. He was trying to come up with an excuse.

"Ehh.. I don't think I'll…" he began and lost his words when catching sight of Lily who entered the hall. She sat down a few meters away from them, and he completely forgot about their conversation.

"Lads, I'll be back…" he said, and left to sit down with Lily. He didn't even look away from her when talking to them.

"He won't be back." Remus said, looking unhappy again.

Sirius watched James go and cursed under his breath before he turned to Remus again. He was almost about to give up before he remembered Peter's presence. He grinned and looked at Peter who was sitting in front of him. Peter looked awkwardly at them both and his eyes revealed how confused he was.

"Peter... You could talk to her, and convince her with your _charm..._ tell her not to tell anyone about what she saw, I'm sure she'll listen to you." Sirius said with a mocking tone.

Remus gave him a look that said 'stop joking around', not because he didn't believe in Peter, well... he didn't think he could do it, but that wasn't the point, what he really meant with that look was for Sirius to stop teasing Peter.

Peter simply stared down at the table and gave a little shrug. Then before he could say something both Sirius and Remus had turned their attention away from Peter, and they were busy looking at her again.

"She's leaving." Remus said. "We have to follow her."

"Sure, but wait a minute-" Sirius said and put a hand on Remus's shoulders to stop him since he was trying to stand up.

"Why?"

"Because that Rutilus is keeping an eye on us." Sirius said and looked down on his fried eggs and bacon. He picked up his fork and began to eat.

"We'll just look at the map later and find her."

Remus took a quick look at Acacius, and then for once followed Sirius's example. He picked up his own spoon and ate up the rest of his porridge.

* * *

She looked at the book in front of her, but she was just looking at the words and not reading them. Her mind was somewhere else, she was thinking about what she had seen last night and if the boys which had been observing her this morning, had anything to do with it. She had seen them sneak out last night, she had followed them, and then she'd met four animals running around. Four very different animals, who usually didn't associate with each other. Then the werewolf… She had heard them call Remus 'Moony', as in 'moon', and a werewolf is connected with the moon. They had said that Remus was 'turning'. Now when she thought about it he had always looked a little shabby, and had often tired eyes with dark circles under them. Could it be that Remus Lupin was a werewolf?

She blinked. Could it be that the three other animals were Black, Potter and that other one she always forgot the name of? 'Was it even possible?' she asked herself. She had all night to think about this, what she had really seen, and this theory seemed to make the most sense.

She looked up from her book, and then caught sight of someone once again observing her.


	6. Don't Tell

Sirius Black was standing by one of the bookshelves, pretending to be looking for a book, but he was in fact spying on her. As soon as she looked up he turned his eyes to one of the books which all of a sudden looked really interesting to him.

Eleana gave out a sigh and looked down at her book again. Although as soon as he glanced at her again she could see it in the corner of her eye, apparently he didn't realize that she could still see him.

Sirius was gaining up the courage to talk to her, not because he was scared of her or anything, no, he was building up strength to ask a _Slytherin_ for a favour, and not just any Slytherin. It was against his beliefs, it was degrading for him. However, he had to do it for Remus.

"May I ask when you'll stop spying on me?" She said and looked up, meeting his gaze. He could tell she was annoyed. Those blue eyes of hers were hard.

"I'm not spying" he said with a snort, trying to sound offended, as though he didn't know what she was talking about.

"I saw you looking at me during breakfast, and now you're spying on me in the library." She affirmed.

Sirius took a look around, and when he had made sure that nobody seemed to be watching or listening, he walked over to the table she was sitting by and sat down opposite her. In his eyes she didn't seem too pleased with this, she even leaned away from him a tad looking uncomfortable. He figured it was best to get down to business right away.

"Very well, I…" he began then glanced at her book. "Astronomy, huh… You like atronomy?"

"yes." She replied, not sure where he was going with this. Although, if her conclusions were right about last night, he would ask her about it.

"I never cared much for it" he said indifferently, and laid back in the chair he was sitting on.

"Your name is Sirius, it's the name of a star you know." She said, not knowing why she said it though.

"Really?" he sounded surprised. "Didn't know that… I hadn't given my name much thought though, since my parents gave it to me I figured it would be something I didn't like. However, a star… That I'm okay with."

She simply nodded, and then there was awkward silence. After a minute Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it.

"What do you want?" Eleana said, straight and honest.

He looked at her and then hesitated, thinking of what would be the best way to ask her.

"I'm… wondering what you saw… last night?" he said, then glanced at her while waiting for her reaction.

She immediately looked down, and wondered once again what she had actually seen. Could her conclusions be right? Although, his question sort of confirmed it. Maybe it was for the best not to tell him. Not get involved in anything.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said plainly

"Oh come on. I saw you last night." He said with a smile.

"You know it's against the rules to be running around in the castle during night time. Are you accusing me of breaking the rules? " she said, sounding highly offended.

"I know what I saw, and I saw _you_ outside the castle during night time."

"You were outside the castle during night time?" she asked.

"That's not the point." he said, beginning to get irritated.

"I'm sure the teachers would be awfully displeased with that. Sure you would get detention-"

"Stop trying to slither your way out by changing the subject!" he said, most annoyed. "You Slytherins'" he added with a roll of his eyes.

She didn't like the tone in his voice, it was obviously not a compliment he had given her, and she stood up to leave.

Sirius suddenly looked at her and when he realised she was leaving his eyes widened.

"Come on, don't leave"

It was too late, she had already grabbed her book and the bag she had with her, and now she was walking away from him.

Sirius jumped out of the chair and hurried to catch up with her.

"Hey, I didn't mean to make you angry." He said walking beside her, as if it was obvious.

She didn't even look at him, she just kept on walking in a hurried speed.

"Now, what did you see last night?" he began again, he didn't have a problem keeping up with her steps since he had long legs.

"Nothing" she replied harshly.

They had reached the corridor outside of the library and she turned right. He followed, it wasn't hard to keep up with her since he could easily take longer steps.

"Absolutely nothing?"

"Nothing"

That was the last straw for Sirius, he had tried to be polite and all she did was lie straight to his face. He grabbed a hold of her shoulder and motioned her towards the wall. Eleana soon felt her back meet the stone wall. Shocked, she looked up at him.

"What are you doing?" she asked distraught.

"You are going to answer my question." He said firmly.

"Let go of me." She said with a voice stiff from rage. Then she pushed him slightly to walk away, but he didn't let her leave, instead she was pinned against the wall and he put both of his arms on each side of her, his palms were against the stone so she couldn't leave. They weren't touching her, but they still trapped her.

"Not before you tell me exactly what you saw." He leaned closer, his eyes were solid as they looked straight into hers. She noticed they were grey.

Eleana then looked away, this was the moment to tell him. He demanded to know, and she didn't really see that the reasons for not doing it overweighed the reasons to do it.

"I saw... you and your friends sneaking out through a secret door, and I followed."

"Why?" he asked.

She looked into his eyes again.

"I don't know." She whispered before looking away again.

Sirius raised his eyebrow.

"Then when I was outside, I saw... Four animals, a hound, a stag, a rat and a werewolf." She looked at him again to see his reaction. Sirius let his hands down.

"Then before I knew it the werewolf was after me and I ran..." she swallowed hard before continuing. "It thought I was going to die when I fell to the ground and saw it leaning over me... and then, all of a sudden, the werewolf was attacked by the other animals and I ran to the castle." She realised it was hard for her to talk about this, all the emotions were coming back to her, and it struck her now just how scared she had been.

Sirius touched his jaw anxiously while listening and then he saw how glazed her eyes had become.

"It seemed so surreal." She finally said.

He laid his hand on her shoulder as if to comfort her, not really thinking of what he was doing, it was more of an instinct. As soon as he touched her she looked at him as if she was pulled out of a dream rapidly, then she smacked his hand away.

"Don't touch me!" She said trough her teeth. All that vulnerability she had shown was gone, as in the flick of a wand.

"I know it was you, I know your friend is a _werewolf." _She said quietly.

What they had feared was now revealed to be true, she knew. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and cursed inside his head without saying a word. Soon, he opened them to look at her again. Sirius had remarked the way she had said '_werewolf_', she said it as if it was a really bad thing. Almost like a word she wasn't allowed to speak aloud, and it sort of aggravated him that she would think it was so repulsive. She didn't even know him, he was sure that if she knew Remus she would think differently, then again perhaps not, she was after all a pure blooded Slytherin who surely looked at the world in the same perspective as his parents did. She was probably too proud to see beyond that.

"Now let me go" she said.

"No..." he said shaking his head. "I need you to promise me not to tell anyone about this."

"Why? So that you can keep running around at night, almost killing people when they run into you?"

"It's _not_ like that"

"It's dangerous, he's dangerous." She said, sounding disturbed by the thought that he didn't seem to think so.

"He's not dan..." he lost his words, and realised that what he was about to say wasn't entirely true. He started over. "He is not dangerous... when he is with us as animals."

"That's not what I experienced."

"Well only if a human follows and sneaks up on us." He snapped. Eleana's mouth was formed into a line.

"Do the teachers know he's a..?" she asked after a few seconds.

"They do." He said, beginning to get distressed as she showed no sign of making a promise to him.

She nodded.

"They even know that you are an animagus, and the others too?"

When asked he looked away, not wanting to answer the question. Her lips were formed into a grin.

"Not registered huh?" she mocked him.

"That's none of your business." He said with a harsh look, it said 'don't you dare tell anyone'.

She just smirked, knowing she had him on a string. This moment of power felt good, but she did not want to torment him any longer, it would be cruel.

"Fine, I wasn't planning on telling anyone anyway." She said, and the words were true, she had not planned to tell anyone, she had thought about it but she had decided not to. Even though she didn't think good of werewolves she didn't want to expose him to the whole school. If the teachers knew already then it was alright with her, she supposed. And also if she would tell anyone she would have to admit that she had been sneaking around in the castle during night, and she did not want anyone to know that, especially not her parents.

"I'll keep your secret. Now will you let me leave?"

"Really?" he said, sounding suspicious.

"Yes, now let me go." She said feeling annoyed of having to repeat herself. She started to walk, not waiting for a response.

He stepped back a little and looked at her, he could only see her back.

"Thanks." He said.

"Don't mention it" she said while turning to look at him swiftly as she kept on walking.

Sirius looked at her for a few more seconds, before straightening his posture slightly and walking away in the other direction.

Eleana really hoped he wouldn't mention it though. It would not be good if it got out that she was socialising with Sirius Black, the blood traitor. Especially not now after she had been friendly with a muggleborn, her parents would be displeased and it made her sad to think about it.

Although he was rather handsome, she thought to herself. Tall and slender, black hair, grey eyes. 'No' she thought, 'I cannot think of him that way. Sure, he's handsome, but he probably has a lot of girls drooling over him, and he surely takes advantage of that.' She kept on thinking. Come to think of it, she had seen girls swooning over him in the corridors, and giggling foolishly whenever he passed by. It all seemed silly to her, and she didn't see what all the fuss about, sure, he had a well shaped face, but he didn't seem to be a particularly good person, just arrogant and too wrapped up in himself to care about others. He just seemed 'careless' to her. Although, the conversation she had just had with him did prove that he cared about his friends. He had protected Lupin, and she admired that.

* * *

'Eleana Adela' Sirius thought to himself while lying in his bed. He was in his pyjamas under the covers, ready to sleep, but his mind clearly wasn't. All he could think of was that Eleana, and she wouldn't leave his head. The other three were already asleep so it was just him and his thoughts.

Remus had been very relieved when Sirius told him that he had convinced her not to tell. Now he was sleeping soundly. Sirius turned to lay on his side and then he simply stared at the wall.

Her last name reminded him too much of her family, and also his family since they were practically the same, no, his was worse, it had to be, nobody's family was worse than his. However, her first name was fairly pleasant. 'Eleana' he thought, letting the name linger in his mind. He wondered what it meant, since she had told him what his' meant, he wondered what she was named after. All these questions and thoughts about her kept going around in his mind, until he at last fell asleep.

* * *

**Author's note: I hope you enjoyed reading, and thank you for the support. Reviews are appreciated ;)**


	7. Glistening

**10 December, 1976**

Everything carried on as usual, Eleana studied hard and only socialised with people who were suited for her. It all made her parents worry less, which was her intention.

Sirius was the same, and he and the other marauders kept on with their mischief. The only thing that seemed to have changed was that he now and then thought about Eleana. It wasn't often, but from time to time the thought of her could suddenly pop up in his mind.

"Sirius!"

He had barely heard James call his name and turned around before a snowball hit his head. The snow was caught in his black hair and he shook his head so the white snow was scattered around him. He lowered his eyebrows and held back a grin as he took up snow from the ground and quickly squeezed it into a ball, then he aimed it at James and threw it with force.

James ducked just in time, and when he looked up he laughed and teased Sirius for missing the shot. As he laughed Peter joined the game and threw a ball at James who wasn't expecting it. As soon as he got hit he looked at Peter feeling surprised. He was caught off guard and now Sirius could aim a snowball at him, this time he didn't miss.

James was bombarded with snowballs.

"Not fair!" he shouted. Sirius and Peter just laughed. Then when Peter and James were busy throwing snowballs at each other, James seemed to be winning, Sirius caught sight of Remus who was occupied with reading in a book that looked very boring , and old. Sirius saw his chance and threw a big snowball at the back of Remus's head.

He turned around to look at Sirius, and then narrowed his eyes. Then before another snowball could hit him he raised his book in defence. He joined the game.

They were all wrapped up in their game, so when a female voice suddenly interrupted them they looked up feeling slightly confused.

"Ow!" Eleana had yelled as a snowball hit her shoulder. It wasn't a soft snowball either, it had been well pressed together and icy. With a slightly flushed face she looked over at the boys. She was dressed for winter with a cloak, and had a scarf around her neck in green and silver.

"Oh, sorry!" Remus said. It probably wasn't even his snowball which had hit her, however, he was the first one to apologise. The others simply looked at her. Eleana gave them a most accusing look.

"That hurt." She said. "You should be careful when you throw those."

"We will." Remus said, sounding most honest.

"Aren't you a little too old for that?" Eleana then said while brushing off the snow off of her black cloak.

"One is never too old for having fun." Sirius said with a wink.

"Well it looks silly."

"you're just jealous cause you're too uptight to be having fun like this."

Eleana stared at him for a moment and was just about to respond when two young men came closer. The sister had heard her brother's voice from afar and she turned to look at him. Eithan was walking towards the castle along with Avery. Then he caught sight of his sister and the boys she seemed to be having a chat with.

"What are you doing?" he asked her as soon as he was within hearing distance. Eleana glanced at the others briefly before looking down at the glistening snow covered ground.

"Relax, we just exchanged a word." Sirius said. Eithan Adela turned his dark eyes to the one who had spoken and reminded himself not to waste his breath on a traitor, he therefore took his sister by the arm and walked away from them dragging her with him. Eleana didn't disobey her brother.

"Why were you talking to them?" Eithan asked her when they were inside the castle, the muscles in his face were strained and she didn't like the sight of it, he was angry.

"They were being silly and throwing snowballs at each other, and one accidently hit me." She said with a shrug. Her brother didn't look very happy with this explanation .

"It wasn't intentional, I assure you." She said.

"You shouldn't talk to them." Avery said. Eleana didn't care to discuss this further, for that reason she simply gave them a nod.

* * *

They entered the common room and then sat down in one of the green couches opposite Rutilus who was doing some homework. He had three books beside him, and one in his hand, at the same time he had a quill in his other hand.

"What are you up to?" Eleana asked him.

"I'm writin' an essay about human transfiguration." Acacius answered as he looked up. For a moment Eleana thought she saw his eyes gleaming when their eyes met, but she didn't have enough time to be certain before he turned his gaze down towards the book.

"Avery, Adela." A rather nasal sounding voice said. The heads of the entitled were turned towards Severus Snape.

"I found something I thought you might be interested in." He said. The tone of his voice made Eleana feel uncomfortable, it was surely something involving dark magic.

Avery and Adela stood up to follow Snape.

"Rutilus, are you coming along?" Avery asked. Acacius looked up from his book and shook his head with a polite smile.

"No, I have to finish this I'm afraid."

"See you around later then." Avery said and left with the other two.

Eleana looked at Acacius, the light of the fireplace casted a flickering warm light on his face. She leaned back in the green leather couch and examined his features for a while. He had dark brown hair, short cut, but not so short that you could see his scalp. His jar was broad, and his eyes were light blue, they were looking right at her. She looked away.

"Why didn't you go with them?"

"I said to them that I have to finish this."

"Oh... so you didn't want to go with them then?"

"Sure I did, but I'm busy." He said then shifted position a little, looking somewhat uncomfortable.

Eleana went over to opposite couch and moved one of his books so she could sit down next to Acacius. She laid it down on her lap and looked at a rather stunned young man. His heart had started to race in his chest when seeing how close she was, he even felt her thigh touch his.

"I don't like what they're doing." Eleana began. "Dark magic is dangerous."

"I'm sure they know what they're doing." He said to calm her, then he put his quill to the parchment and wrote down another word to his essay. Although, his handwriting turned out to be quite shaky given that he was trembling slightly. He concentrated to keep his hand as steady as possible, and tried to forget the fact that she was so close that he could smell the scent of flowers from her hair, must be her shampoo.

"You're not into that stuff are you?" she leaned closer, and when he looked up from his book to answer her, his words got caught in his throat since he found himself to be only centimetres from her lips. He swallowed hard and they both leaned back a little, not too much however, since they were discussing a subject one shouldn't shout about, she needed to be within hearing distance.

"Are you?" she asked again since he hadn't answered her question yet.

He looked at her and shook his head slightly. "No... not really." He added and looked away.

"Ey, speaking of nothing. Would you like to..." He lost his words again when he looked into those blue eyes, two shades darker than his own. After he had swallowed hard he had found the words, even so, he couldn't find the courage to say them aloud.

"yes?" Eleana said with a little smile. He smiled back and shook his head.

"Nothing." He said with a shrug.

Eleana looked quite confused, and she was about to nag it out of him when Caren entered the common room with a crying Camilla, she was holding a tear drained letter in her trembling hands. They were heading towards their bedroom.

"I better go." Eleana said to Acacius and stood up, she placed the book which had been on her lap beside him, where it had been before.

"What happed to her?" he wondered.

"I'm not sure." Eleana said. "Goodnight Acacius."

"Goodnight" he said and looked after her as she left. He grabbed the book which had been in her lap, then gave out a sigh before he continued with his essay.

* * *

"What happened?" Eleana asked after she had closed the door behind her. She gave Caren a look of distraught. Caren patted the crying Camilla's head and looked at Eleana.

"She received a letter from Alexandre"

Eleana raised her eyebrows at Caren as in 'and?', since she couldn't communicate with Camilla because her head was buried in the pillows, a loud sob was audible.

Caren didn't look too pleased about telling her. "He told her that they shouldn't put labels on their relationship yet, since they... aren't living in the same country and can't see each other as often as those in a relationship."

"He doesn't want me to be his girlfriend." Camilla cried in her pillow.

"That's not exactly what he wrote." Caren said carefully, trying to console the devastated Camilla. "Give Eleana the letter and she can analyse it."

Camilla didn't leave her pillow but she reached out a folded and crumpled letter to Eleana who took it. It was stained with tears, and some of the ink was smudged. She sat down next to Camilla and Caren on the bed, and laid a comforting hand on Camilla's ankle.

_Camilla, mon chéri._

_I don't have time to write right now, I have a busy schedule. _

_- Alexandre_

Eleana pursed her lips while she thought about what she had just read.

"He hasn't written anything for a whole month, and then he sends me this!" Camilla cried miserably.

"What do you think?" Caren said. Camilla stopped snivelling for a moment and looked up from her pillow with sore eyes.

"I think... that it doesn't necessarily mean that he doesn't like you Camilla, he's simply... busy."

"You really think so?" Camilla said while she dried her eyes with one of her sleeves.

"Perhaps he's mad about something?" Caren suggested.

"What could he be mad about?" Camilla asked, sounding almost frightened by the thought that she could have done something to make him angry.

"There's only one way to find out, write him back." Eleana said with a smile. Camilla nodded and smiled faintly.

"I'm going to write to him right now."

"Tell him to explain himself. " Caren said, she sounded fairly annoyed. "and no bloody riddle"

Camilla was looking at the letter once again.

"I think it's because he doesn't know the language very well. English is hard for him, although he has gotten a lot better since I met him." Her dreamy voice was back, and a smile was on her lips. Her eyes weren't tearful anymore, they were glistening. She grabbed a parchment and a quill from her dresser.


	8. They're My Family

**10 April, 1977 **

It was unusually sunny outside. It seemed to be an early summer this year. The snow had already melted and the air was warm. Leaves were turning green and the buds would soon bloom.

Eleana left the classroom, she had finished her last class for today. Therefore she wanted to enjoy the sunshine outside, and she wanted to be alone. Sometimes she needed her space, and living on a boarding school didn't make it too easy to get.

Lucky for her, Hogwarts was a big castle and after she had walked around for a while on the school's area she found a spot where she could be by herself. It was a part of the castle, but seemed to be a quiet place. It was a part of the stone wall, and had old dilapidated stones which fairly ringed in a patch of green grass. It looked as if this once had been a wall or something similar. By the castle wall, still intact, there was an old stone bench, could have been a sculpture, but it was too damaged to distinguish it's former shape.

Eleana sat down on it and leaned her back against the old wall of rocks. The wall had holes here and there where stones had broken and fallen away. Some of them were big enough to walk through. She closed her eyes and listened to the peaceful sound of a bird singing and the sound of the wind blowing in the trees. The sun shone on her face, and her ankles. She unbuttoned her white shirt a little, so the sun could reach more of her skin. Afterwards she folded up the sleeves and pulled back her skirt to expose some of the skin on her thighs to the warm sunrays.

There she sat for at least twenty minutes, enjoying the sun, before she heard a familiar voice breaking the harmony.

"Where are your companions?"

Eleana shot her eyes open and saw Sirius Black leaning by the wall with a smug look on his face. She straightened down her skirt so her thighs weren't exposed anymore, and then leaned her head back and closed her eyes once again.

"I don't know." She said simply.

"Doing some dark arts then perhaps." He said.

She didn't answer him.

"Why aren't you joining them?"

At this she opened her eyes and gave him a hard stare.

"If you've come to mock me, you might as well go." she said sounding weary. After that there was silence.

He stayed where he was. He didn't understand why he stayed really, he just felt this need to talk to her, about anything. The sight of her thighs was permanently stuck in his brain.

"I didn't..." he began. "I didn't mean to mock you... It's just that you seem a little different from them, that's all."

"How?"

"Well... it's just an observation."

"Been observing me much, Black?" she asked and gave him a faked flirtatious stare.

"No." He said. She noticed that he shifted uncomfortably at this question, and didn't meet her eyes. Her lips twitched from amusement when she felt a smile coming on.

"You didn't answer my question" she reminded him.

Sirius straightened his posture, and then looked thoughtfully into the air, as if he was considering what way to answer the question.

"I heard the conversation you had with your brother..." he admitted finally.

She gave him a confused look.

"After Fiona's _accident_. I heard you berate him for it."

"Were you spyin-..?" she started saying, sounding very infuriated. However, she was interrupted before she could finish her sentence.

"No." He said with a frown. "I was sitting by the window in the corridor, waiting for Remus who was talking to one of the teachers. I just sat there, and then I heard yelling and I couldn't help but hearing most of the conversation." he shrugged.

She was silent, looking down at the grass while feeling slightly embarrassed.

"I thought it was excellent." He confessed with a soft smile.

She looked at him and felt a smile coming on when meeting his stare, she looked away when the smile entered her lips.

"I guess your family's got a little rebel too." Sirius said with a laugh.

Her smile faded. She was not like him, she was not a rebel, she wouldn't want to be someone for her family to be disappointed in or even ashamed of. The thought of them disowning her was the worst imaginable thing that could happen to her.

"No..." she said while shaking her head slightly. "I was wrong to argue with my brother."

"What are you talking about?"

"It was just wrong." She looked at him again.

"Was it wrong to defend that poor girl? Why?... Because she was a muggleborn?" he was beginning to get angry.

"No,_ I_ don't believe so." she said determined with accentuating the 'I'. "But my brother did, and my family disregarded the whole thing although they were angry with me."

Sirius shook his head as he felt anger stir up inside of him. "They're all the same..." he said, mostly to himself.

She ignored his remark, and sighed before standing up and walking towards him.

"I don't want to disappoint my family again." She said and made a turn to leave.

"Why not? They're all maniacs."

She stopped and turned around to look at him.

"Don't talk about them that way." She said harshly. "And I'll tell you why I don't want to disappoint them: Because they're my family and I love them, even though we may disagree on a few things, I still love them. _They're my family_."

Sirius just looked at her, and realised she had a bond with her family that he never would have with his. Even so, he did not understand. He understood family, he had the Potters, they had welcomed him in their family. He loved them, but he could not understand how she could love her family when they had such vial beliefs.

"Have a nice day." She said, and again turned to leave.

"There are better people out there, I assure you."

She glanced at him. "Don't assume you know my family, I won't leave them like you left yours."

And with that she finally left.

* * *

**Author's note: More chapters coming up soon. Thank you all for the response I get! I appreciate it. Lots of love ;)**


	9. Motorcycles

**27 April, 1977**

* * *

Eleana was half running through the corridor while carrying a few books and a paper, plus a pen stuck in between her books. She was late for class, and she could not be late. The class had already started and she knew how strict professor McGonagall was. Eleana had stupidly fallen asleep in her bed during her break and woken up only minutes ago, when she glanced on the clock she realised she had to run.

Her legs took a turn and she glanced sideways, which caused her to run into someone. She crashed against his chest, and hit her head against it.

"Oh! Sorry!" she exclaimed without even looking at him

The collision made her drop her books in surprise. They were scattered everywhere around the two of them, and she immediately bent down to pick them up.

"No, no, no..." she whined as she got down on her knees.

"Let me help you." he said and bent down to pick up the remaining books from the floor.

She recognised his voice at once, and looked at him. He soon handed her the books and she stared into his grey eyes as they met hers. Her hands reached for the books and she took them with a nod.

"Thank you." She said and looked down.

"You're welcome." He replied, and looked at those dark brown eyelashes of hers while she was looking down. He almost gave out a sigh at the sight of them, she looked very likeable and he had nearly been angry with her because of what she had last said to him. '_Don't assume you know my family, I won't leave them like you left yours._' She'd said. He had thought over that sentence since they'd last met, long and hard, and he stood by what he had said to her before that. '_There are better people out there, I assure you._' She just needed to meet them.

For a moment she forgot all about transfiguration, but when she remembered she looked at him in panic. As she did he gave her a confused look.

"The class!" she moaned and stood up. Sirius rose to his feet when she did. Eleana looked around and found a clock standing against the wall, she sighed unhappily when looking at the time.

"It's too late." She said. "I'm already twenty-five minutes late"

Sirius glanced at the watch before looking at her again.

"You had class?"

"yes, right now. But I'm missing it... It's no use to go there, I don't want McGonagall to lecture me "

Sirius sucked in a breath through his teeth. "Well, that blows."

Eleana sighed again and started to walk back the way she came.

Sirius caught up with her and walked beside her. "Where you going?" he asked, trying to not sound too interested.

"Back to the common room, I suppose"

He nodded.

"Or I'll go to the library, to study."

"Mind if I come along?" he asked, before he could stop himself.

She shrugged, looking very careless about everything. "Do whatever you want."

* * *

They entered the library and she let her books fall onto one of the tables before she took a seat. It was cornered by two bookshelves. She gazed out the window and felt very frustrated with herself.

Sirius leaned back in his chair and scanned the books behind him with his eyes, he picked out one who had an interesting title on its back.

"What's that?" she asked after a minute or two.

Sirius looked up from his book for a second before he shrugged slightly. "It's about various muggle objects"

She frowned.

He laid down the book for her to see. "See..."

She put her elbows against the table's surface and leaned forward.

"This is a motorcycle" he said and showed a picture of a very odd object, she had never seen one before.

"What's a... motorcycle?" she asked, the word was one she had never pronounced before.

Sirius grinned and all of a sudden he looked very excited. "It's an object invented by muggles. It's something they use for travelling."

"How do they make it move without magic?"

"It runs on something called 'fuel', and that's what partly is making it able to move. Then there's the construction of it, which is sort of hard to explain -"

"They use it for travelling?"

"Yes."

"And you sit on it?" she asked, cause it looked as if the object had some sort of seat on it, so she figured that you could sit on it.

He nodded.

"Like a broom then?"

"It's different from a broom, but you could say that it's similar to a broom, yes."

"So... does it fly too?"

"No, it moves along the ground. But... if it could fly, that would be grand." Sirius said and got an expression as if something splendid had crossed his mind, he really liked the idea of a flying motorcycle.

Eleana just nodded, thinking that this strange device must be something special, because Sirius seemed to be very amazed by it. She wondered what it was that was so special about it.

"So, you want to have one of these?"

"Yes, and I'm going to get one." He said, sounding determined. "This summer."

Eleana studied the picture of the motorcycle and then tilted her head to look at it from another angle, as if she would understand it better if she did.

It was shiny and black, with all these metal things in different places, small and big. Then it had two big wheels as well. There was black leather covering the seat, and it sort of looked comfortable. She wondered if it was possible to lie on it while travelling, because brooms weren't that pleasant to sit on for a longer journey.

"You like it?" he asked sounding amused when seeing her expression.

"It's...unusual." she said, not entirely knowing what to think of this motorcycle object.

"It's not that uncommon among muggles, you should notice one or two motorcycles on their streets driving by now and then if you look around."

She took her eyes off of the picture. "I don't walk much among muggles." She admitted.

"I should have known." He said bitterly. She thought he would snort or do another gesture to express his dislike further, although he didn't, but the tone in his voice expressed it enough.

"However, I have heard about those things that they have, called _cars_... Is this a sort of car?"

"No, this is much better." He said and tapped on the picture with one of his fingers.

She stared at him looking quite puzzled for a moment, until she gave up the pursuit of trying to understand his fetish for this odd muggle object. She suddenly looked around for clock, but didn't find one.

"Do you know what time it is?" she asked.

Sirius was busy putting the book back into the shelf, but as soon as he had done so, he searched in one of the pockets of his pants, and then pulled out a pocket watch. It looked as if it was in silver, with some inscription on it she could not make out from this afar.

"It's ten past eleven." He said casually and then put the pocket watch back in his pocket.

"It's lunch time, I must go to the Great Hall." She said and stood up. As soon as she did he stood up as well, and watched her collect her things from the table while he mumbled.

"Yeah... I bet James and the others are already there, so I should go too."

"Let's get going then." She said as she picked up her pen and laid it on top of the books she was carrying.

"You need some help with that?" he asked suddenly.

She glanced at him while a smile was prying on her lips. "No, I'm fine, thank you." She said.

Sirius wanted to punch himself for the way he was acting, it was very unlike him. He could be friendly, but not this friendly. He just felt this need to make contact with her, to be there for her if she needed him, and it was sort of freaking him out. The thing was that it just got worse, and she was a Slytherin, 'A Slytherin!' he reminded himself. Out of all of the girls he had to fall for her, it was just not what he wanted. He needed to get away from her. But then again, she was really pretty with wonderful hair, and she also smelled really good. He glanced at her while they were walking, and he relished all of those features. Then again she was off limits. It would be against his own beliefs, and it would not be approved by her family either. Maybe that's what spoke to him, the danger of breaking the rules.

They were beginning to get close to the Great Hall, and she realised that they had not met a single person on the way here, only a ghost, but she knew that there would most certainly be people in the Great Hall. She suddenly spoke, and they had not exchanged a word since they had left the library.

"Maybe, it's best if we part here..." she looked at him as if she was sorry for saying it. "I mean my brother, nor my friends would appreciate me being near you."

Sirius nodded understandingly. "I get it... I mean my friends wouldn't be too happy either if they saw me accompanying a Slytherin. "

Eleana nodded and slowed down, as did Sirius. She turned to him and looked up.

"You made skipping class easier than it should have been. I didn't feel too concerned about the detention I'm going to get as much as I would have, without you. "

He chuckled softly "Glad I could help." he said, with that typical smug grin lingering on his lips.

Eleana gave him a faint smile and continued to walk towards the entrance of the Great Hall. Sirius watched as she walked away from him, her hair flowing behind her back as she did. He waited a couple of seconds before he also went inside. It was quite noisy, students having conversations with each other while they gorged in countless amounts of food, just as they did every lunch.


	10. Landing on grass

**30 April, 1977**

* * *

Eleana had been given a harsh lecture by Professor McGonagall, mostly words, and then forty points was being taken from Slytherin. Although, to Eleana's surprise she was not given more than one detention. The following evening she had detention, and after that she was free to go. However, McGonagall knew that Eleana wasn't the student who usually skipped class, so she was indulgent to the situation.

It had been three days since she had the conversation about 'motorcycles' with Sirius Black. Three days since she had realised that he was quite pleasant, when you spoke to him where no ears could hear. Before, he had been purely rude, now whenever she caught sight of him in the corridor or anywhere else he met her gaze with softness in his eyes. She found that she liked him more and more for every look he gave her. Although, they both had to be really discreet about their feelings, no one could know.

However, Eleana didn't know if she could consider him a friend, he was merely a casual acquaintance, she supposed. Even so, she knew a great deal about him. She knew his interests, motorcycles. She knew one of the biggest secrets she believed he had, he was an animagus.

However, if she was beginning to look at him as more than an acquaintance, that didn't necessarily mean that he saw her as anything else than what she ought to be to him, just another student, or even an enemy. But if he saw her as that, wouldn't he try to avoid her rather than trying to communicate with her?

* * *

Eleana sat in the green grass with Camilla and Caren next to her. Caren was sitting by a tree while leaning her back against it, and Camilla was lying on her back amidst some white anemones. Eleana was leaning on one of her arms as she gazed out over the Black Lake. It was still, and dark, 'It must be quite deep' she thought to herself.

"That cloud looks just like Alexandre." Camilla said dreamily and pointed to the sky. Eleana looked up, and put her hand above her eyes to block out some of the sun in order to see the cloud properly.

"In that case, he has three legs." Caren said, sounding very amused.

"He does not!" Camilla exclaimed. "He's perfect." She said with voice that once again sounded very dreamy.

"Then, I guess I mistook that leg for something else." Caren mumbled with raised brows, she grinned widely when Eleana looked at her. Camilla didn't seem to have heard it, and Eleana just shook her head slightly while grinning about Caren's dirty mind, and humour.

Camilla touched some of the white anemones close to her in the grass, the scent from them reached her nose. Her hand then went inside her pocket and she took out a letter. Then she hugged it, pressing it close to her heart. She gazed up towards the sky. It was one of the many letters she had received from Alexandre. Right before Christmas she had been quite distressed due to the lack of letters, and short sentences from him. She had thought that he had been mad with her, or simply tired of her. However, it was revealed that he had been, exactly as he wrote, busy with a hectic schedule. A letter came on Christmas day, when he explained his absence and apologised. She couldn't do anything else but forgive him, and now she was more in love than ever.

This letter she held was the latest one out of the ones he had sent her every week after Christmas. Her stomach was filled with pleasant butterflies as she had read it, and now as she hugged it those butterflies multiplied as she repeated every word inside her head.

All of a sudden, the still and calm atmosphere was broken by four boys walking down the slope as they laughed and discussed very loudly with one another. Camilla looked away from her darling clouds and eyed the boys with a distasteful look in her otherwise warm brown eyes. Caren wasn't looking too pleased either with their thunderous presence. Eleana on the other hand, had only eyes for one of the boys. However, she did not look at him for more than a second or two before returning her gaze to the sea.

"Haha! You'll never get me!" Sirius yelled as James took out his wand.

"Ugh, so immature." Caren said, and closed her eyes as she leaned the back of her head against the tree.

Shortly after she'd said it, Sirius was hit by a spell and flew backwards through the air. Eleana flinched as Sirius nearly landed in her lap, but he didn't, he landed on the grass right in front of her. Camilla squeaked and immediately sat up.

Sirius groaned vaguely and looked up. Then he saw Eleana's face, and instantly felt better for some reason. Her golden hair was hanging down and almost tickled his face. He blinked and noticed that she looked a little concerned, She was worried about him. That thought went straight to his ego.

"Are you all right?" she asked, his assumptions had been right, she sounded very concerned, indeed.

Sirius looked into her eyes for a while before he spoke. "I'm fine." He then said casually, trying to be modest as he sat up. Eleana still looked concerned as he caressed the back of his head while making a face.

"I'm sure he's fine. Now, Eleana get away from him." Caren said, as if he was a fire crab ready to blast her at any moment.

"You're hurt?" Eleana said to Sirius, not paying attention to Caren.

"Oh, he's fine!" James said when he reached them.

"It wasn't you who was sent flying through the air several meters, so I don't think your word counts." Sirius said heatedly.

James started to laugh.

"Oh! I'll show you how it feels." Sirius said and stood up.

Caren grabbed Eleana by the arm and Eleana had to stand up. "Come on, we're leaving." Caren said bitterly.

Sirius heard it and turned to them. "You don't have to leave..."

Caren showed him a fake smile. "Yes, we do. I can't enjoy my spare time with you making this much noise"

Sirius looked at Eleana who looked down when their eyes met. "I'm sorry... you can stay, we'll leave." He said with a smile.

"Well aren't you a gentleman." Caren said sarcastically. "But it's too late, we're leaving."

Eleana looked at Sirius who simply shrugged at Caren. "Suit yourselves." He said with a smirk. Then Eleana was dragged away by Caren, she did however find the time to give Sirius a soft smile before she was. He noticed that she seemed to be amused, and it made him happy. He smiled back, before he turned to take out his revenge on James by sending a hex his way.

* * *

**Author's note: I hope you enjoyed this little chapter, I'll keep posting. Also, feel free to give me feedback, and thank you for what I've already received. ;)**


	11. Something I Want From You

**1 May, 1977**

The very next day, Eleana felt very tired after that potion lesson they had just had. However, it was the last lesson of the day so she could finally relax. During the lesson, they had been told to made a invigoration draught, only she had boiled it far too long and the result wasn't pretty. She received a very displeased look from Professor Slughorn. What made it all worse, was the fact that the boiling was supposed to be the easy part, and she who was usually quite good with potions had been distracted by the thought of Sirius Black and therefore failed tremendously. It all seemed so silly to her, being this distracted by the thought of him that it was ruining her grades. That damn smirk of his was ruining her life!

Speaking of the devil, as she was thinking back of her potions class while trying to keep up with the conversation Camilla and Caren were having, Sirius Black walked them by in the outside hall. She caught sight of him and he of her. It looked as if he made a hint for her to follow him, just a little hint with his head, barely visible. At first she was unsure, and she stayed where she was, then when he saw that she didn't understand he did it again, and now more evidently.

"I think I left my quill in the classroom. I'm just going to go get it" Eleana said to Caren and Camilla.

"You can just have one of mine." Camilla said happily.

"No, no... It's fine, I'll just go get it real quick." She said as she began to walk away. After that she received quite confused looks by them both.

"It's my favourite pen" she explained during a shrug. Then she left. She headed towards the yard where she had seen Sirius go. Her gaze wandered around the yard and no one seemed to be there, then she saw him, he was leaning against the brick wall with his black hair slightly moving in the breeze. He had his hands in his pockets, and when he saw her coming he smirked admirably and stepped away from the wall as he turned to her.

"Hello, Sirius Black." She said. "What is it that you want from me now? To keep a secret, or do you just want someone to converse about motorcycles with?"

He rolled his eyes, yet the smirk didn't leave his lips. "There's actually something I want from you."

"Really?" she raised her brows "and what is that?"

He scratched the back of his neck before he looked at her "I was wondering if you could help me with my astronomy assignment"

"Astronomy... and you can't do it yourself?"

"No, if I could I wouldn't ask you would I."

She pouted her lips and thought about it for a moment before giving an answer. "Sure, I'll help you."

"Great."

"But no one can know" she said and waited for his agreement.

"What? Ye scared of what daddy'll do?" he asked amusingly.

She did not find it amusing at all, so she turned to leave.

"No! No... wait" he said and grabbed her shoulder. She glanced at his hand and he quickly removed it and raised both of his hands. "I'm sorry." He said, trying to apologise for his mistake and hoping that she would still help him.

"If I'm going to help you, you'll have to stop insulting my family!" she said with a voice stern from anger.

"I will _try_ to..." he said, and as he realised that she wasn't satisfied with that particular answer he sighed. "Fine, I won't insult them."

Eleana nodded. "Good, I'll see you tomorrow." She said with a mere smile, and began to walk away.

"Where?" he asked.

"In the library."

"What time then?"

"seven, after dinner" she said without turning around, and then she was out of eyesight for him. She had gone inside the building, and he just shook his head because he was such a fool. Falling for her was bad, it was stupid, and this could not end well. Although, it was intriguing.

* * *

Sirius stood by the entry to the library exactly seven o'clock. He fiddled impatiently with his pocket watch while he kept an eye on the corner where she would come walking any second now, he hoped. Last time he had seen her was just recently in the Great Hall, she was eating her dinner and talking gleefully with that bugger Rutilus. She had laughed at his jokes, and the image of that stung him unpleasantly, and made him feel jealous in a way he had never experienced before.

He then finally caught sight of her, with her mass of hair swaying slightly behind her as she walked, she spotted him and smiled softly. He took a step towards her when she came closer, and then she broke eye contact and simply walked past him. At first he felt confused, but it didn't take long before he understood and just followed her a few steps behind. He didn't mind it, cause now he had a good view of her behind.

Eleana took a turn, and he looked around to make sure that no one was looking at him, and then he made the turn as well. They sat down by a table which was far from all the others, and it was sort of hidden behind a bookshelf, by this table it would decrease the risk of being seen together.

"Did you bring your book?" she asked, quite sternly.

Sirius realised he had forgotten it in the dormitory, and he raised his eyebrows, not wanting to answer the question he tried to dodge it. "Well... you see... I-"

She interrupted him. "You didn't bring it." She confirmed. "You can just look at mine."

Sirius opened his mouth to say something witty, but then closed it.

Eleana shoved the book which was on the table, in his direction. Sirius picked it up and skimmed through it while she was busy searching for a quill in her bag. Then she sat up and placed the quill on the table and looked at him. Sirius laid the book down.

"So... what is it you need my help with? There was an assignment, right?"

Sirius tilted his head a little while looking at one of the bookshelves. "Well... not just that, but everything." He then admitted and met her gaze.

"But it's almost time for finals... you can't learn everything in that small amount of time."

"Sure I can" he said confidently.

Eleana shook her head, his cocky attitude was annoying her right now. Although, she couldn't help but smile at his foolishness.

Actually, Sirius Black didn't need help with _everything, _just perhaps a few details. He just wanted to get to know her better, he wanted to spend time with her, and in this way he would. This was a master plan.

"Fine, let's begin." She said with a sigh, and a smile contouring her lips.

* * *

**Author's note: Once again, thank you for reading and giving me feedback. I'll keep writing, and I am determined to finish this story so don't worry. ;)**


	12. It's Wrong

**16 May, 1977**

More than two weeks had passed, and they had studied almost every day during those two weeks. Whenever they got some time to spare they met up. During that time they had learned a lot about one another, and neither of them was what the other at first had believed them to be. Finals was in less than a month and everyone seemed to be very stressed, the library was quite full but they had been able to find a private spot, fortunate for them the library was big.

"You see, the planet mercury will be in this position this Friday, and by Sunday..." she pointed at one of the sketches in the book she was holding in front of them both. They were standing very close since they were hiding behind two bookshelves which formed a small corridor. Another bookshelf was shielding them from view by the end of the other two. However, it was a small amount of space, and he stood close while he had his arm lying on the shelf behind her head. He tried to look at the book she was holding, to bad there was no use to even try, cause all he seemed to be drawn to was her. That face of hers was the most lovely thing he'd ever seen. The light was shining in from the window beside her and made her hair seem even brighter and lustrous than usual.

"And by Wednesday it will be..?" She looked up into his eyes, looking anticipative. He met them and seemed lost.

"Sirius!" she whispered as loudly as one could do a whisper, sounding utmost irritated. She couldn't do it any louder since she didn't want anyone to know that they were there. "Have you listened to a word I've said?"

"Yes... of course I have." He said, sounding offended. Eleana put the book in his hand.

"Then where will Mercury be by Friday?" she crossed her arms.

Sirius thought long and hard for a moment, but did not at all remember her mentioning it.

"How am I supposed to get you ready for finals if you don't listen?" she smacked his shoulder and looked at him accusingly.

"There is no need to be violent" he said and touched his shoulder as if it was sore. Although, she probably did since this was the third time for today he forgot to listen. He put the book away on one of the shelves and continued to stare at her.

"The finals are soon, and I want you to pass." She said and met his gaze. When his eyes locked with hers, she could see that those grey eyes of his looked playful. Suddenly they were very close, and so was the rest of his face. Her heart had begun to pound unusually fast in her chest, and her stomach tingled. Within seconds, it became hard for her to breath as if she had forgotten how to do it properly. Before she could reclaim control over her body again Sirius had leaned down, closer to her, and she soon felt his hot breath near to her mouth. His lips met hers. At first they were gentle, and felt soft. Then when she showed no sign of retreating he grew bolder and moved his hand to her neck to press her closer to him.

Eleana felt very warm, and in no way did it feel unpleasant. Her hands went up to his collar, and then they stayed on each side of his neck. Sirius made an attempt to press her even closer to him, and that was when Eleana broke the connection of their lips and pushed him away slightly with her palms against his chest.

Sirius was slightly confused by her sudden action, and also quite dizzy from the recent kiss. When he could focus properly he tried to make eye contact with her. It was hard however, cause she was looking away and her hand grazed her mouth. She looked very concerned, and he could not tell if she regretted it or not, but something told him that she did and it bothered him.

"What's wrong?"

She looked at him, then a pained expression entered her face. "Oh, Sirius. Everything is wrong." She said, as if he should know. She stepped away from him as much as the small space allowed.

"My family, my friends, no one would ever approve of you. Your friends, they would not jump up and down with happiness if they knew. You and me, everyone will think it's wrong."

"Do you?" his eyes were solid. "Do you think it's wrong, you and me?"

She broke eye contact, and several seconds passed before she answered and during those seconds Sirius suffered.

"I don't."

Sirius felt relief wash over him.

" and that is what's wrong." She said. "I should believe that what I'm feeling for you is wrong, but it feels the complete opposite, and I can't change that."

Sirius couldn't tell if she was more miserable than blissful, she somehow seemed to be both.

"I have feelings for you that I can't get rid of."

"Then stop trying." He said and grabbed her hand, she came closer as he pulled her in gently. They longed for each other's lips. He was right about to kiss her again when a student walked along the bookshelves, in search for a particular book it seemed. Eleana instantly stepped away from Sirius as soon as she caught sight of the boy from Hufflepuff. She took a deep breath as she leaned down to grab her bag from the floor. Her cheeks had become hot and were surely bright red, she glanced at the Hufflepuff who was very occupied with his search at the moment. When she looked at Sirius he too seemed to have been worried, but the alarmed feeling had passed. He smirked and she walked past him to leave.

* * *

Eleana had not told anyone about her meetings with Sirius, since she knew that everyone in her life would disapprove of it majorly. Sirius had not told anyone either, although, his friends were beginning to think it was very odd of him to sneak away and do something they knew nothing about.

"Sirius" James said as he walked over to his friend's bed where Sirius had just sat down.

"Yeah?" Sirius said, sounding rather distracted as he picked up the astronomy book which was in his bag.

James gave Remus and Peter a rather concerned look, then he turned to Sirius again.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes, I'm healthy as a centaur." Sirius said and looked at him. "Why?" he said confused as he saw his friend's look of concern. "What? Why are you all lookin' at me like that for"

"It's just that you were in the bathroom for one hour and a half."

"I had an upset stomach." He said casually.

"It's the third time this week."

Sirius was about to confess, then he decided not to. "Whatever those house-elves put in the food must be something I'm allergic to. " he then said with raised brows, and sighed. "I tell ya, whatever they're using this week isn't good for my stomach."

Remus and James glanced at each other, not convinced. They clearly knew there was something he was not telling them

"You don't believe me?" Sirius said, trying to sound very upset as he slipped into his pyjamas. "You think I'm making this up?" He did feel bad about lying to his friends, but he would feel even worse if he had to confess that he was having secret meetings with a Slytherin from the Adela family.

"I'm too upset about all of this, see you tomorrow." He said and went under the covers of his bed.

"Sirius." Remus said.

"No, save it. I don't want to hear it."

Remus sighed and James looked baffled.

"Lad, there is something seriously wrong with you." He said and went to his own bed.

Sirius closed his eyes and cursed silently, he knew he had tangled himself in a big mess of lies and secrecy. He stared at the wall as he thought of the fact that he was lying to his best friends. Although he wanted to tell them, the thought of them rejecting the whole thing scared him. He wanted Eleana so badly, he couldn't give her up, but if his friends didn't accept her it would be a big problem. It seemed as if Eleana had a similar dilemma. As he closed his eyes once again he thought of Eleana, how her lips felt against his. It didn't take long before he drifted off into sleep.

* * *

**Author's note: I love to read reviews! Thank you for sharing your thoughts, I appreciate it. I have to let you know though, that there will be more of the other characters involved in later chapters. However, this is a story about Sirius and foremost Eleana, so those two will always be in the center. Another thing I have to tell you is that I'm trying to write as fast as I can, but I won't be able to post chapters as often as I have done lately. But I can assure you at least one chapter per week, maybe more if I find the time. ;)**


	13. Sneaking Around

**17 May, 1977**

Eleana and Caren entered their dormitory after dinner and didn't acknowledge the daydreaming Camilla on the bed, since it was a common, almost daily, routine.

"Have you studied well for finals?" Caren asked Eleana who was now by the mirror. Eleana ran her fingers through blonde curls as she tried to get the result she wanted.

"Umm... yeah, I think I'm prepared." Eleana said absently as she moved a strand of hair which seemed to be in the wrong place.

"Well you must be, considering how much time you've spent in the library." Caren said with a frown.

Eleana turned to look at her friend, and immediately the fear of her secret being discovered found her. She sniggered and said "Yes, of course you might think so, but there's a lot to learn and..." she lost words as she thought back on all of those little study sessions, just her and Sirius, and yesterday all that tension which had been building up had been satisfied. But the tension somehow still grew stronger, and now she felt the need to see him again.

"You know... you reminded me of how much I have left to do, so I'm going to head to the library now." Eleana said and was suddenly in a hurry.

"Okay, I'm way too tired for studying. But then you won't mind right, if I don't come along I mean? I know you've been wanting to study alone lately"

"No, you rest." She responded, and soon after she had done so she was out the door, heading up the black marble stairs to the common room. The walls around her were also in black marble and ahead she saw an opening where a greenish light reflected on the walls. She soon reached the common room.

Earlier today, she had spotted Sirius in the Great Hall while they were eating dinner, if she was lucky he was still there or on his way to the Gryffindor common room. Ever since yesterdays interaction with Black, she could not stop thinking about him.

* * *

"Admit it Evans, you are going to miss me during the summer. You're going to miss-"

"Oh! Dream on Potter." Lily said with a smile of amusement on her lips. All year she had been, what she would call it, tormented by James Potter. He had asked her out numerous times this year, and she always declined his offer, and he still did not stop. At this point it was becoming quite ridiculous, and she was actually beginning to consider his offer, she had not told him that of course.

"You can't say no forever." He said with a playful smirk and a cheerful tone in his voice. Lily frowned, but did not stop smiling.

Sirius listened to James desperate attempt to win Lily over, and as expected she turned him down, again.

As they walked through the corridor, surrounded by several people, he suddenly caught sight of a lovely face. His heart skipped a beat, he had not expected to see her again this evening since he had seen her leaving after finishing her meal. She didn't look at him until right before she was about to pass him. He knew that look.

"I think I left my transfiguration book in the Great Hall" Sirius said to Remus while slowing down. "I'll just run back and get it."

Remus looked a bit baffled, since he couldn't remember that Sirius had brought a book with him to dinner. "You want me to wait here then?" he asked.

"No, no, you go on and I'll catch up with you." Sirius had already began to walk back the way they came. Remus sighed as he shook his head a little, wondering what Sirius was up to. Then he turned to continue walking with the others. James was to occupied with Lily to notice that Sirius wasn't present anymore.

* * *

Eleana was waiting for him just around the corner, and as soon as she saw him she took his hand and dragged him with her to an empty cupboard. When they were inside she closed the door and turned around to kiss him, he was astonished by her eagerness but the last thing he would do was complain. After a while she leaned back and looked into his dim eyes. As he caught focus he grinned at her.

"Missed me?"

She nodded, and realised just how eager she had been, perhaps too eager. However, she couldn't help it.

"Yeah, well, who wouldn't miss me?" he said with a grin. Eleana slapped his shoulder, pretending to be angry, although she couldn't help but smile. Sirius chuckled and as his laugh faded away he became more serious.

"I missed you too." He said and touched her cheek fondly. He didn't know exactly why he was acting so cheesy all of a sudden, but he couldn't help looking at her this way. She brought out a side to him that no one else could.

Eleana leaned in to kiss him again, and at the same time she interlocked her fingers with his. By the time she leaned back again Sirius had his fingers in her hair, and she had her hands behind his neck. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes.

"Perhaps we should study." She said, feeling slightly guilty over the fact that she had not really studied as well as she used too lately.

"Perhaps we should." he agreed. Then a smug grin appeared on his face. "But I'd rather do this." He said and leaned in for another kiss.

Eleana kissed him back but then she pulled away after just a couple of seconds. "Sirius, we really should though." She was trying to sound firm, but when she saw his smirk she couldn't help but smile. She let the idea of studying go, and enjoyed the moment instead.

* * *

"Where's Eleana?" Eithan asked Camilla when she sat down in a chair next to him by the fireplace. Acacius also looked up at Camilla, curious to know the answer.

"I think she went to the library." Camilla replied and started to fiddle with the lace at the end of the sleeve on her pyjamas. She had changed to go to bed, but she couldn't sleep, and since Caren wasn't awake she had no one to talk to, that's why she had gone to the common room.

"Again?" Eithan said, sounding like he wasn't thrilled about it. He just hoped she wasn't exhausting herself completely with schoolwork. Then he also found it a little strange, she usually wasn't this much on her own. Surely now and then she wanted to be by herself, however, this behaviour was unlike her. Sneaking off to go places all of a sudden, alone.

"She has been there a lot lately." Acacius pointed out.

"She has... Every day she makes up some sort of excuse to go somewhere. It's just not to the library, come to think of it" Camilla said with a pout, she actually felt slightly hurt sometimes, assuming that Eleana didn't want to spend time with her friends.

"Not just the library?" Eithan said, he seemed to be confused. "Where else does she go?"

Camilla shrugged and glanced at the fire instead of him. "I don't know, sometimes she just wanders off."

"Well, where does she go?" he asked, it was clear that he was beginning to become annoyed.

Camilla didn't like his tone, it was beginning to become intimidating, and he often got this way and she didn't like it. Uncomfortable, she shifted in her chair. "the bathroom, back to the classroom, back to the dormitory cause she forgot something... Oh, I don't recall every place... the library, she goes often to the library."

Eithan leaned against the back of the couch he was sitting on and felt even more confused. Why would she sneak off for?

Acacius also wondered why she was acting the way she was. He stared into the fire, and all three of them began to feel really confused by Eleana's behaviour. None of them could figure out the reason for it either.

* * *

That night, Acacius couldn't get Eleana out of his head. Since the beginning of this school year she had been irreversibly planted in his mind and he couldn't get her out. She was so very beautiful, and had a sincere character which shone out from her like sun rays. He wished he had the courage to talk to her more, and show how much he appreciated her. Although, it was hard, for he didn't want to screw it up before it had even begun. He wanted to do it the right way.

As he laid in bed he rolled over to his side, and then stared at the wall. When he closed his eyes he saw her, and before he could stop himself he imagined her in her dormitory, 'she must have gone to bed too by now', he thought. Then his imagination wandered off, and as they were shaped into dreams he fell asleep.

* * *

**Author's note: Sorry for the delay! I've been quite busy lately, and I have my reasons for being this late with an update. I hope you can understand, and again I thank you for reading and reviewing! Feel free to continue leaving a little review for me too look at. Don't worry, I've got the next chapter done already and I will be posting it soon ;)**


	14. Skirmish

**27 May, 1977**

The exams for this year was not far away, only a mere week away. They were to be held in the first week of June, as always. Eleana had her O.W.L.s, and she really tried to study as diligently as she had done previously during this whole year, but there had not been much time for studying the last couple of days, only short meetings with Sirius in empty places. Hogwarts actually had plenty of those convenient places, and since Sirius had explored Hogwarts thoroughly with his friends, he knew many of those places.

Now, whenever Sirius had time alone with Eleana, they shared a kiss or simply held hands. He felt the need to have her close, whenever he was without her he felt this ache inside of him, he longed for her.

One afternoon, right after supper had been served, Eleana was on her way to the dungeons. She was thinking of the one person who had constantly been invading her mind lately. She wanted to be with him, but they were so restricted due to the secrecy. Still, those moments she had with him were more than gold worth. Every moment was rare, and therefore all the more special. Even though all of this had happened so quickly she knew how it was. Already she was certain of the feelings she had for him. She was in love with Sirius Black.

It was beginning to become dark outside, only a dim weak light was shining in through the windows of the castle. Eleana had already met Sirius this morning, but this coincidental meeting surprised them both. Suddenly he entered the hall headed in the other direction, he was walking towards her. She could see that he looked as surprised as she felt by this unintentional reunion. None of them was accompanied by their friends, and there was no one else to be seen. Neither could they hear anyone else approaching. Joyful, they locked hands as soon as they could reach each other. Eleana looked up into Sirius's eyes. Would they dare? It was risky to do it here. Sirius was thinking the same thing, although, 'what's life without a little risk?'

Eleana embraced his neck, and her mouth collided with his. They couldn't help themselves, nor could they stop. Their bodies were pressed against one another's. Sirius held her waist, then he wrapped his arms around her completely. All she could feel, and hear was him. His body pressed against hers, his lips moving against hers. The sound of his breath, his heart pounding. One of her hands moved up, her fingers were soon intertwined in his black hair.

In the split of a second she felt herself being roughly pulled away from Sirius, someone with a brutal grip held on to her as she looked up to see who. It was Eithan, her brother. Her eyes enlarged as she saw the rage in his eyes.

She looked over at Sirius who looked concerned, it looked as if he was beginning to reach out to touch Eleana. The way Eithan had treated her aggravated him, and he felt the need to get her back to his side.

Before Sirius could react Eithan had let go of his sister and pulled out his wand. He was right about to cast a spell when another spell hit him. He was knocked over to the floor and in the process dropped his wand. Eleana was shaken by surprise and she looked at Sirius, and to her astonishment it wasn't he who had cast the spell. She looked over her shoulder and saw James Potter coming closer. He had his wand out and was pointing it at Eithan who was still on the floor. All of it had happened within seconds, she had just been pulled away from Sirius and now her brother was lying on the floor, wounded.

Eleana ran over to where Eithan was lying and kneeled beside him. She touched his cheek.

"You injured him!" she said to James and looked at him accusingly.

"I think the way he was about to injure Sirius would have been a lot worse than what I just did to him." James answered. But Eleana had turned her attention away from James and Sirius, all she was concerned about right now was her brother.

"Eithan" she said with a trembling voice, the blood which was covering the side of his head didn't console her.

He had been unconscious for a couple of seconds now, but when she spoke his name he opened dim eyes, and then blinked a few times before he tried to sit up. Before he stood he grabbed the wand which was lying close to him on the floor. Eleana smiled with relief and helped him to stand. As he stood he caught sight of James and Sirius, he then remembered, and the unfriendly pointing of James's wand only fumed his anger.

"You better put away that wand" James said to him.

Eithan looked at Eleana, and she had never seen him this angry before. It made her take a step back from him. Eithan was outnumbered, since Sirius had taken out his wand as well, although he was not pointing it at him as James was. Even though he was burning with fury on the inside he put away the wand inside of his blazer, for now. Eithan seemed to be calming down, and he gave them both a stern look, then he felt something wet on the side of his head. His hand went to that spot and he realised it was blood when he looked at his hand. Eleana could hear a quiet chuckle coming from him, as if something was funny. Then he looked at Sirius while he was still smiling, he looked him straight in the eye, and Sirius didn't look amused at all.

"If you touch my sister again, I will make you wish that you never did." He said gravely. Eleana became cold on the inside, as if a sudden breeze had went through her and stayed there. Her brother knew about their relationship, and now it was over. Her brother was telling the truth when he threatened Sirius. He could be awfully cruel when he wanted to.

The little piece of humour which had crossed his face a moment ago was now gone when he laid his eyes on his sister. He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away from where she was standing, she didn't even get the time to look at Sirius. At first she didn't dare to turn around and look at him, since her brother would be even angrier if she did, however, she simply couldn't resist. She glanced over her shoulder, and caught sight of him.

"Don't you dare." Eithan hissed. She hastily looked away, but she did not regret what she had done.

* * *

"What an arse" Sirius muttered, staring at the doorway where Eleana had just been dragged through with her brother's firm grip grasping her shoulder. "If he hurts her I'll..." Sirius let go of his words when he realised that James was leaving, he was already a few meters away from him.

"Where are you goin' "

"To find Remus, he's in the library" James said in a cold tone which was very unlike him as he continued to walk, he didn't even glance at Sirius.

Sirius sensed that his friend was upset with him, and he gave out at sigh before trying to catch up with him.

"James..." he began. "Let me explain."

James spun around to look at Sirius. "Explain what?! Why you thought it was a good idea to snog a Slytherin, one whose friends' practice the dark arts and you always ramble on about how much you hate the lot of them, that you're glad you moved in with me so you didn't have to be near people such as them. Or! Explain why you lied to your best friends, why you rather lied to our faces and went behind our backs than to tell us you had fallen for a girl. Why couldn't you tell me, Sirius?!" He was breathing heavily, it looked as if he was regaining some energy after heaving out all of his anger. Sirius couldn't blame him, he knew he deserved this outburst. He wish he had a better answer, however, he could only tell him the truth.

"I couldn't tell you, or the others, because I didn't even accept it myself at first, then how could you?" he shrugged as his grey eyes met James', he could see that his friend seemed to relax a little hearing this confession.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you... But you see, I couldn't imagine falling for this Slytherin, an Adela, never in a million years..." Sirius saw two people entering the hall, and lowered his voice. "I didn't plan for it to happen, it just did, and I got to know her. I'm telling you, she's not like the other Slytherins, like her brother, Severus, Mulciber, nor my brother. She's... wonderful." Sirius's eyes had moved to a spot on the floor while talking, he almost got lost while thinking of her, there were so many wonderful things about her, simple details which he found to be lovely, her bare presence made him feel good inside.

"You're doomed." James said. Sirius snapped out of his thoughts and realised that James was a lot less angry than he had been before.

"I know." He replied unhappily. Then a smile appeared on James's lips, which turned into a big grin. Sirius grinned as well, and they both knew just how doomed they were. James had been drooling over Lily the whole year, and he had been desperate to get her attention. He was completely smitten with her, and now Sirius understood how he felt. He'd seen his friend's feelings as considerably silly and dull, but now he understood.

James laid an arm around his friend's shoulders and they began to walk.

"So you're alright with this?" Sirius asked, sounding rather surprised.

"Sure I am, if you tell me she's wonderful I believe you."

"She really is though." Sirius said. They both stayed silent for a few seconds. "Have you seen her behind?" Sirius said suddenly, sounding proud. James looked at him with an amused expression. They both grinned.

"Don't think that this means I forgive you." James said. "You have a lot to make up for now, you're not off the hook."

"Darn!" Sirius said.


	15. Stay Away From Him

The evening wasn't over yet, Eithan and Eleana reached the Slytherin Dungeons. She felt her brother's fingers digging into her arm as he held her in a very firm grip, since her blood flow was strangled she was beginning to feel her arm becoming numb by the lack of blood.

He dragged her all the way down to his dormitory, when he opened the door Avery looked up from his book and raised a brow when he saw the sight of his friend's face. Then his gaze wandered over to Eleana, and he figured she had done something to aggravate him.

Eithan pushed her inside the room and finally let go of her arm. "Sit down" he commanded. Eleana touched her aching arm and did as she was told. She sat down on the third bed, which was empty.

Avery put away his book and looked at Eithan. "What happened?" he asked solemnly. Now he had noticed the cut on the side Eithan's head. There was dried blood around it, however, it wasn't bleeding anymore.

"Get out." Eithan breathed. Avery was astonished, but he guessed he had his reasons for being this mad, he simply got up from his bed and went to the door. He noticed that Eleana looked awfully guilty and she barely dared to look at her brother. She must have done something really bad when Eithan was this wound up. He was curious to know, but it could wait, therefore he simply walked out the door and almost immediately heard it being shut behind him.

Eleana gazed up at her brother and swallowed hard from uneasiness. He began to walk around, with a puzzled expression on his face, and then he eventually stopped right by his own bed. He didn't say anything and the long wait was becoming unbearable, Eleana couldn't take it anymore she had to explain herself.

"Eithan-" she began, but he raised his hand to stop her. She closed her mouth, and watched him turn around to look at her. Never had she seen him look at her this way before, he seemed to be disgusted by her. It hurt her just as much as it scared her.

"How could you?" he asked. Eleana lowered her gaze. He was hurt, she could tell, and it pained her to see him like this.

"How could you act so dumb and get together with a..." he wasn't sure what to call him, there were no words for expressing his revulsion for Sirius Black. "Chav git" he spat.

Eleana instantly looked up, it was her turn to become angry. "Don't say that."

"Eleana! He's betrayed his blood and his own family... He's the worst you could find. "

"You don't know him like I do"

"Cause you know him so well, eh?" he said, almost about to laugh. Subsequently his mouth turned into a disgusted sneer. Before she was about to respond he said, "He told you all of his secrets? Told you you're special, that he loves you?"

Eleana looked away, he had told her similar sentences, yes, but he had not told her that he loved her yet. Although she knew he cared for her, she simply knew it.

"I don't blame you for believing it, what girl wouldn't? He's rather handsome isn't he?" Eithan continued, sounding more resentful than ever.

"What do you mean?" she said, and her voice trembled slightly.

"I mean that he has been fooling you, all along."

"Why would he...?"

"Because he's a gormless brute." Eithan said gravely, and stepped closer to her. "Haven't you seen how he fools around, he doesn't want anything from you except one thing... I'm telling you, he's been using you."

"He wouldn't do that." She said, although she looked sadly baffled. She trusted Sirius, she thought she did, however, come to think of it, girls often looked after him and showed their interest, he and Potter were always showing off to impress.

Eithan knew he was getting to her, and he had to convince her not to see Sirius Black again. "How could you know for sure he wouldn't?" he said, knowing that she doubtfully would have proof.

"I just know." She said, almost fully determined.

Her brother smiled, joyful but tried to show otherwise. "Oh, my poor sister." He said with a sigh and kneeled beside her, his hand went up to tuck in a strand of hair behind her ear. "You're lucky I caught you now, before it got worse. Before anyone else found out." He then said, and they both knew their family's reputation was in danger.

"Eleana, you have to promise me..." he said while he insisted that she would look into his eyes. She did and he continued. "that you won't see him again."

Eleana was mute, she neither wanted nor could she give him the answer he wanted.

"Promise me" he said more firmly.

His sister couldn't promise him, she couldn't let Sirius go this easily, so she took a deep breath and stared him in the eye to say, "I can't promise you that."

Eithan was stunned, he could not believe it. He was losing her to a traitor, and not just any traitor, but a filthy blood traitor. She did not know what she was doing, therefore he had to take control of her in order to keep her from doing stupid mistakes. If he didn't, she would ruin her life and he could not let her do that.

He stood up and rubbed his eyes, as if he was tired, although he was rather annoyed. "I won't tell the others about this." He said when he was finished. "However, I'll have to tell father. But this stays in the family"

"Please don't tell father!" Eleana exclaimed, she feared what her father would think of her if he found out. It would be a real disappointment for him, and he would be ashamed.

"I have to." He said and didn't sound joyful about it either, but if he couldn't put a stop to her then their father could.

"Please, don't" she pleaded. But Eithan wasn't listening, he opened the door with a flick of his wand. Then a parchment came flying from his bedside table, and a quill began to write. Eleana knew better than to reach out for it, so she simply stayed where she was.

"Stay here." He said. "and don't touch that letter." He added before he left. A minute later he came back, followed by Avery. Eleana stood up.

"You stay here with Avery, until I get back." He said without looking at her. Then the written letter flew across the room and into his hand. Eleana sat back down again on the green bedspread.

Eithan left, supposedly to the Owlery. Avery was still standing by the doorway and he was looking at her, or rather trying to analyse her. "What did you do?" he asked after a while.

Eleana met his mystified gaze, but kept her mouth closed. When she looked away Avery gave out a sigh. "Whatever you did, it must have been bad... I've never seen him this upset, and he's not just angry you know"

Eleana knew he was referring to Eithan being hurt, she chose to ignore him, she didn't need his harassment.

"Perhaps you are a Slytherin after all." He said mockingly. "I was having my doubts."

Eleana took a deep breath contained with misery and frustration, she wanted to leave but she wasn't allowed to, if she did her brother would become even angrier with her, and she didn't want that.

* * *

**10 June, 1977**

Almost two weeks had passed ever since her brother had caught her in the act with Sirius. Since then her brother had made it his main priority to keep her from Sirius. It had been impossible until now, she had actually managed to sneak in a note into his pocket with the help of magic, telling him to meet her this night.

She was on her way to see him, and had recently sneaked out of her dormitory. Before not too long she reached the common room and in the quiet nightly environment she could hear the outside sea hugging the wall. You could hear that you were really beneath the sea when in the room, it brought a soothing and pleasant atmosphere to the place. It was dark, all candles were blown out and as she was about to walk across the room to leave, a light was suddenly lit with the flick of someone's wand. She looked at the young man which had caught her. He sat up in the couch he had been lying in, and looked at her with a very severe look in his eyes.

"I thought it would be best if I slept here, just in case you would do anything stupid. Then after a while I thought, I'm being silly, she wouldn't do something so utterly stupid, sneaking out in the middle of the night to see someone she is forbidden to see, taking the risk of being expelled and killing our poor mother which is already frail from hearing the last news. Yet... here you are." Eithan said bitterly.

Eleana looked away, she hated the way she had hurt her family, the way she had disappointed them all. The way her brother had treated her ever since he had found out, it hurt her, he always talked harshly to her, and there was no sign of the brotherly love which had been there before. In spite all of this, she couldn't be separated from Sirius this way, they had suddenly and rapidly been cut away from each other, and she ached for him.

"I just need to talk to him." She said with a strangled voice, she felt as if she could cry, although she restrained herself from doing so.

"No, what part of 'stay away from him' do you not understand?" Eithan sounded irritated.

"The part where I'm forbidden from making my own choices, and being treated as a prisoner."

"You lost that privilege when you acted brainless and let yourself be grabbed on by him!"

"What do you think it is? A fling?"

"No, it _was _a fling... and it's not going to be anything else."

Eleana shook her head, feeling tears being shaped in her eyes. "It's not just a fling, we care about each other."

Eithan smiled and shook his head, as if she had said something really foolish. "Go back to bed."

"Please Eithan."

"End of discussion."

"You're not my father!"

"Until we are at home I have responsibility for you. Now go back to bed."

Eleana's shoulders relaxed as the air went out of her lungs, the tenseness which had held her during the argument vanished, as she realised there was less hope left. The possibility of her having another moment with Sirius was small, and having a relationship with him was beyond impossible.

* * *

Sirius entered the dormitory, and the only one who was still awake, waiting for his return was James. Remus was still tired from his nightly change two nights ago, and therefore needed all the sleep he could get. Peter had also fallen into slumber.

"What did she say?" James asked, and by the sight of his friends gloom expression he guessed that it had not been a joyful discussion.

"She didn't show." Sirius said, with a puzzled expression as he tried to think of a possible explanation for her absence. He tossed the map at James who caught it, then Sirius laid down on his bed with a 'thump' as it squeaked vaguely.

"I'm sorry lad." James said as he watched his friend in silent agony.

Sirius stared up towards the ceiling, but he did not see the red curtains draping the area over his bed, he only saw her.

"It's her damn brother." Sirius muttered. "I've seen how he's guarding her around the clock. I bet she couldn't come because of him" Sirius felt how the blood started to boil inside of him, and it started to rush to his head and he had to sit up. When he did he realised that it did not help the slightest, the anger made his breath tremble and he looked at James who was looking at the map.

"I saw them on the map. His name was in the common room, he was probably waiting for her in case she would try to sneak out. I saw her name moving and then stopping and walking back." Sirius said. "Bugger." He then added, thinking of Eithan Adela.

"You know what we need to do?" James said.

"What?" Sirius asked, sounding tired.

"We need a plan, cause you need to talk to her."

"What sort of plan did you have in mind then?"

James thought for a while, and while he did he sat down on his own bed before looking at Sirius again. "We could create a diversion."

* * *

**Author's note: I hate to complicate things for them, but at the same time it is entertaining to write. Since this isn't a fairy tale, be prepared for some ups and downs. Next chapter will be posted next week. ****If you've got the time, feel free to give me some feedback. **;) 


	16. Let's Declare Our Love

**11 June, 1977**

This was a Thursday, and not just any Thursday, but the Thursday on which the students finish the final part of their exams. Pupils were seen biting their nails in agony while waiting for the test to begin. Eleana could not deny that she was nervous, grades were indeed important, and if her grades weren't excellent her parents would have another reason to be ashamed of her.

After the final test she came out the classroom, feeling relieved it was finally over, but extremely anxious in case she had done badly. Professor Binns had fallen asleep by his catheter while the students did their exam. Although he had fallen into slumber, it did not mean the students could get away with cheating. A boy from her house had tried but failed instantly. Apparently he had underestimated Professor Binns, and when he pulled out a cheat note from his pocket, assuming that the sleeping Professor would not see it, he suddenly opened his sleepy eyes and said. "Do you think all these years of teaching hasn't taught me anything?" he mumbled, half in slumber. "I may be old, but I'm not dumb."

The boy was baffled and put away his well written cheat note. He wasn't the only one who had been astonished, all the others had looked up from their paper to see if they had heard right. Professor Binns closed his eyes again. "No one has cheated since the year of 1896, and no one will on my watch." And with that he was deeply asleep again.

Eleana watched the wrinkly old ghost for a couple of seconds before she returned to her paper, 'he really is old', she thought. She wondered for exactly how long he had been teaching, until she realised that it was foolish to waste time thinking about other things than the exam. She needed to focus, and so she continued.

Now, after that long time of writing her head felt thick and it hurt. Her hand was aching from holding the quill, and on top of it all she was famished. Soon she caught sight of Eithan and Acacius, they had both finished their exams for the semester as well, and she knew they had come to escort her. With a quiet sigh she went to them.

"Did it go well?" Eithan asked, as if the circumstances weren't out of the ordinary.

She mumbled "I think so", and then said with a tired voice. "Could we go eat something?"

Eithan nodded and then looked very stern, just as he had appeared to her the last two weeks. Acacius on the other hand was as he had always had been, positive, perhaps now more than before since Eleana was spending more time with them. He did not know the reason for it however, if he did, he would have been quite the opposite of happy.

They were on their way to the great hall, walking in the middle of a crowd going in the same direction, when suddenly, a goat emerged from nowhere and ran through the hall in full speed. It went right through the crowd, and people threw themselves out of the way to avoid the raged animal. It was shooting bubbles out of its horns, and it sent them flying through the air and swiftly sinking down towards the ground.

Eithan and Acacius had moved to one side, and Eleana to the other. They were now by the window, looking bewildered at the goat. Some students looked just like them, and some laughed hysterically and some had been so frightened that it had caused them to run away from the scene.

The corridor became filled with bubbles, and Eleana found herself to be surrounded by them, the amount of them was even making it hard to see. Suddenly she felt a hand grabbing hers from behind, when she turned to look at him she at once recognised the grinning young man, with black hair and grey playful eyes.

"Eleana!" Eithan shouted. He had lost sight of her, and there was too much bubbles, people and chaos to make out if she was still there. He doubted it was useful to shout again, since she probably wouldn't hear him through all of this noise. As he was about to go to the other side of the hall, he saw the goat coming towards him in full speed through a sea of bubbles. Without delay he jumped back and stepped up on the bench by the window, Acacius did the same, and so did three other students as it came in their direction.

* * *

Sirius led her into a cupboard nearby, when the door was closed she embraced him and pressed her head against his chest. She felt herself being close to tears as she listened to the beat of his heart. Sirius wrapped his arms around her tightly, and felt just as thankful as her that they could embrace one another again.

After a while she looked up and noticed that his stare was warm, how she had missed those eyes.

"You enjoyed the show?" he asked.

Eleana understood that he meant the goat, and so she began to laugh. "That was you?"

"Yeah." He said, quite proud of himself. "well with the help of the other marauders." He then added, as if he was obliged to mention it but not really wanting to admit it.

Eleana took his face in her hands and stood on her toes to kiss him before he could say another word. When she pulled away, neither of them seemed to be able to look away from one another. Eleana wished they could stay like this, just the two of them, in a cupboard. It sounded silly, but she simply wanted him with her, always. They couldn't be together on the outside, cause it would be impossible for them to have a life together in the open. But in this cupboard they could hide together from the world, and the thought of this having an end tortured her. The thought of them having to let go of one another.

Eleana was smiling, but her eyes would surely reflect her sadness, therefore she looked down at his white shirt and the red and golden tie around his neck.

"Oi... what's the matter" he asked as he saw her lowering her head, appearing to be sad. He thought he had seen tears in her eyes, and when she met his gaze again, he knew that he had not been mistaken. She took in a shaky breath then shook her head, as if to show him that it was nothing to worry about.

"Oh, It's nothing." She said. Sirius didn't believe that of course.

"You're clearly sad about something... tell me what it is." He said, and for every second she awaited with answering he felt lots of thoughts for her to be sad entering his mind. Some of them made him angry, since he thought that someone might have hurt her. Also, he was impatient and the feeling of not knowing didn't calm him.

"It's nothing, merely me and my silly thoughts." She said and smiled without joy. However, Sirius's stern look made her realised that he was not going to let this go easily. She sighed and looked at some brooms placed by the wall beside him.

"I was just thinking about us, and how I wished we could walk right out this cupboard together and not have to hide from everyone. " She ended with a shrug and looked at him. He was looking at the door.

"Then let's do it." He said. Eleana looked confused.

"Let's walk out that door, hand in hand and declare our love to the world."

Eleana began to giggle, and assumed he was joking. The tone in his voice made it sound as if he was joking. Sirius was smiling but then he said, "I'm serious."

Eleana's laugh ceased and she looked at him as if he had lost his mind. "Yes I know you're _Sirius_, but you're joking, right?" she tried to make him say, cause she couldn't believe he would be serious about it.

Sirius rolled his eyes and grabbed her shoulders as he looked her in the eye. "I am not joking, I want to be with you, and I don't care what the rest of the world thinks. I mean my friends has accepted us... Although it took them awhile to process-"

Eleana just stared at him with sad eyes. "We can't do that." She interrupted him, she looked as if she didn't even dare to think of such a scenario becoming reality. "I mean if things were different we could, but now things are the way they are and... I can't. My family, they -"

"Ah, your family. When will you take your life into your own hands and not let yourself be controlled by them?" Sirius had been thinking about this for a time now, and it was no doubt he was irritated about it.

Eleana blinked, feeling slightly hurt. She swallowed before she answered him "They're my family..."

"Yes, you've told me already."

"and they are not controlling me" Eleana was beginning to become angry, just as he was, despite it she tried to keep her voice in regular tone.

"Yes, they are, anyone can see it."

"Clearly you need glasses. Perhaps you could borrow Potter's."

"Haha, very funny." Sirius said without being amused. "Don't you think I can see that your brother is following you everywhere, you're never alone anymore, always _guarded_ by someone... and don't you deny it."

Eleana looked away, she didn't want to admit it although she knew it very well. It was because the way he was speaking to her, it was as if he was accusing her of it being her fault. As if she wanted to be guarded around the clock. "I didn't ask for it." She said sourly.

"Of course you didn't." He said. "Stand up to them."

"I can't" she breathed miserably.

"Why not?" he asked, then grabbed her by the shoulders. "Admit it, you're scared."

Eleana didn't like his intimidating tone, and she didn't like how right he was although she denied it. "I'm not scared..." she said and shook his hands off of her only to take a step back from him. "It's complicated." Was all she could come up with to say. She felt like he was accusing her of being weak, and being weak, according to her family, was not a good quality and she had always been afraid being just that, 'weak'.

Sirius sighed and gazed up, not understanding why she was being this unreasonable.

"I think I should go now." She said after there had been a cold silence between them.

Sirius stared at her. "I guess your dear brother's missing you." He said unnecessarily harsh. Eleana reached for the doorknob. Sirius didn't want her to leave, but it hurt him that she chose others who treated her badly rather than him. He didn't want to show it. Rage bottled up inside of him and he was unable to stop himself. "Run to that tosser then!" he spat, and then she was gone.

"Bloody hell." He said to himself, as he realised what he had done.

* * *

Eleana held her head high, although she fought to keep tears from streaming down her face. She blinked a few times and managed to keep them away. When she arrived back to the corridor where the goat had terrorised, the air was a lot clearer. However, some bubbles were still left floating in the air around them. People were standing by the wall, and the ones which had been standing on the benches had stepped down from them. The goat had vanished, and now Professor McGonagall was standing in the middle of the hall. She seemed to be quite wound up.

"This is outrageous!" she proclaimed. "Whoever's responsible for this nonsense shall be severely punished..." and so she went on for a couple of minutes, until she was done. Everyone was quiet and didn't move, even after she had left it took a while for people to react. One of the first to move was Eithan, soon he was at his sister's side again and he was followed by Acacius.

"Where did you go?" Eithan asked, the annoyance he felt was reflected in his voice.

"I was startled by the goat... and hid in a bathroom nearby." She lied.

"I wonder if they'll catch the one who did it." Acacius said. "McGonagall sounded quite determined to find the one who did it."

"It was just a stupid prank." Eleana mumbled, and began to walk towards the Great Hall. She was still in need of food. Eithan and Acacius tagged along, and Eleana couldn't help but wonder if her brother had believed her recent lie. The suspicion lingered in his presence.

* * *

**Author's note: So, this was another chapter! I hope you found this to be entertaining, or interesting at least. I will upload another chapter next week, until then, know that I appreciate every single one of my readers. I love writing this, and it's good to know someone else appreciates this story. ;)**


	17. End of Term

**15 June, 1977**

Several days had passed since her argument with Sirius, and every time she recalled it her face revealed her sadness with its gloom expression.

Caren and Camilla began to ask her how she was feeling, however, they stopped after a while since Eleana always dismissed to discuss the subject. Acacius had only watched silently, noticing she was in agony. After a while, some time after Camilla and Caren had given up on her, Acacius finally asked her. It was the one time he did, and she declined to answer, just as she had done with everyone else. He did not ask her again, just continued to watch her when he didn't think she noticed his gaze.

None of her friends knew what was weighing her down, although, her brother identified it with her yearning for Sirius, and it always caused him to become bitter at the sight of it.

The Great Hall was filled with sounds of students talking, goblets clinging together, forks and knives connecting with plates, laughs and overall cheerfulness. Lighted candles were floating around in the air above all of their heads, and were creating the pleasant luminous light in the hall. Eleana had seen exactly where Sirius sat at the table next to theirs, she could see him perfectly from where she was sitting, even so, she did everything to keep herself from staring at him. She plainly ignored his presence, and tried to keep herself focused on the conversations her friends were having.

Sirius didn't know if he should be angry or miserable, consequently he felt both consuming him. Eleana had turned him down for the scum she was sitting amongst at the other table. Also, he had been unable to control his feelings _that_ day, which had led to an unpleasant outburst which neither of them had been able to disregard. Blimey! She didn't even look at him this evening, not a single glance, and she must know he was sitting there staring at her as an complete idiot, yet she did not meet his gaze.

The evening was soon coming to an end and Headmaster Dumbledore began to stand up. He was tall where he stood, and as he gazed out over the crowd of students, several turned their heads.

"May I have your attention?" He said quite loudly, with a fond look on his face. Soon everyone had turned to look at the elderly man with silver hair and long beard. Eleana didn't pay much attention to the speech he then began to tell, surely it was witty and entertaining to listen too, since Dumbledore had proven to be quite folly at times, even so, she couldn't bring herself to pay attention. In the corner of her eye, she saw that Sirius Black was still glancing at her from time to time.

Suddenly, Dumbledore announced the winner of this year's House Cup, and the whole table she was sitting in moved several inches as people stood up to celebrate. Caren grabbed her by the arm to drag her up from the bench she was still sitting on and then shook her a little.

"We won!" Caren exclaimed, and she saw Camilla right behind of Caren, clapping her hands enthusiastically. Eleana forced a smile and hugged them both, after she had let go she accidentally caught sight of Sirius where he was sitting. He was watching her with his grey eyes, and she couldn't quite read them.

Then she felt someone grab her hand, and she turned to look. It was Acacius, he was smiling and looking rather shy. Astonished, she smiled at him, and he then embraced her with his arms. She didn't know what else to do than to hug him back, and when she pulled away she didn't see it as anything else than a friendly hug, although the look on Sirius face told her that it had looked otherwise. Acacius had also continued to stare at her after she had let go, and she quickly walked over to Mulciber to discuss the victory, or rather to get away from stares she couldn't encounter.

Eleana left the feast quite early, and even though she had no thought of making this an opportunity to see Sirius, her brother persuaded Acacius to walk with her, and with the smallest amount of effort from Eithan's side, his friend agreed to it. Tired from trying to maintain a steady facade, she didn't even try to convince Acacius to not come with her, he would have a lot more fun if he stayed at the feast than he would with her. He said nothing, they both stayed silent while heading towards the dungeons.

Acacius had been concerned by her gloom expression all night, and he wanted to make her feel better, but how would he do that? This silence wasn't too bad, since simply walking by her side was pleasant. Although, he wanted to say something to her, something that would make her feel better. He felt his palms become sweaty and he discreetly wiped them off on his pants. Becoming nervous whenever in her presence wasn't much for his benefit, it was strange, he rarely became nervous at other times. Acacius was calm and relaxed in his nature, and only became angry and showed it when he considered it necessary.

When they reached the entrance to the Slytherin common room, he automatically said the password and they entered. Still, neither of them had spoken a word to each other, and before they were about to depart to each dormitory Eleana was the one who broke the silence.

"Goodnight, Acacius" she said and turned to leave. Acacius looked at her longingly and was about to answer 'goodnight' just as he was supposed to, but then the urge to say something completely different made him call "Eleana!"

She hesitated and turned back to look at him. "yes?" she said, sounding rather tired although she tried hard not to.

As soon as she looked at him his courage abandoned him, and he smiled sheepishly. "Nothing... just, sleep tight."

Eleana looked puzzled for a moment, and then the full lips on her little mouth formed into what could be called a smile, although it wasn't completely evident. She seemed to be amused, and Acacius hoped she didn't think he was completely laughable. Before she went to her dormitory she gave him a precious little nod, with a smile still prying on her lips. He sighed and let his head fall back as he stared at the black ceiling, 'she must think I'm a complete twit'.

Eleana thought briefly of Acacius behaviour that night. Right after he had hugged her, she had come to a realisation. Perhaps, Acacius had certain affectionate feelings for her. The way he looked at her, his small but considerate attempts of making contact with her, sometimes she had even noticed how he became nervous when he was around her, how a simple smile of hers could make him bright up like the sun. This was the first time the thought had crossed her mind, and it made more and more sense the longer the idea lingered in her mind.

* * *

**Author's note: This was a short chapter, I know! But I can tell you that the next chapter will be longer ;) **


	18. Family Reunion

**16 June, 1977**

It was time to travel back to London with the Hogwarts Express. Eleana had packed her bags, and with a spell she sent them floating in the air in front of her, on top of each other. She was careful on her way to the train to assure that no one bumped into her luggage by accident. Caren and Camilla were by her side, both of them had their trunks with them as well.

As they were leaving their luggage to a conductor which was loading the train with luggage in a particular storeroom, Eleana caught sight of Sirius and his friends stepping onto the train.

"Don't you think it's strange? We just finished our fifth year and now we only have two left." Camilla said.

"Definitely, it seems as if it was yesterday when we entered the Great Hall for the very first time." Caren said with a smile.

"Time moves fast; don't you think?" Camilla tried to get Eleana's attention.

"Yes... it does move fast." She said, so they would know that she was paying attention to their conversation. Shortly they were on the train as well, and didn't have a hard time finding a compartment since they were rather early. Even so, not before too long the halls were beginning to fill with other students looking for their friends and also a place to sit. Eleana realised that when they stepped off the train she wouldn't see Sirius for a whole summer, and when the summer was through perhaps his acute feelings for her would have bore themselves too deep, she needed to speak with him to assure herself he wouldn't be too bitter when thinking about her.

Eithan had not found their compartment yet, and he wasn't here to keep an eye on her. The time was now, and now only. This was a leap hole which wouldn't last very long.

"I have to use the lavatory" she said, with her thoughts on something completely different. Therefore her voice might appear slightly surd as she had another destination in mind.

" 'Kay." Camilla said, and she and Caren continued some conversation Eleana had not been paying a lot of attention to. She walked down the corridor as she looked into every compartment she passed, through the glass window she could see exactly which people were in there. After searching through the third corridor, she was becoming restless, and right before she was about to become frustrated she saw a group of four boys sitting in one of the compartments.

James and Remus had recently picked up a chessboard, and Peter was watching them attentively as they were about to start playing. Sirius was in that moment polishing his pocket watch with the sleeve of his shirt.

Eleana then noticed how her heart began to pound strangely evident in her chest. Her hand was formed into a relaxed fist before she knocked three times on the glass, they were soft but audible. All of the four boys' heads turned to her, and she only remarked Sirius reaction since her eyes were on him. He looked quite baffled, and at first she thought she saw a small glimpse of joy flicker in his eyes, but then he simply looked stern and not at all pleased to see her. He stood up, and slid open the compartment door to stand in the doorway. She felt her heart sank when he faced her.

Eleana looked into his eyes. "I need to speak with you."

Sirius seemed to be considering her request, and after a few seconds Eleana became anxious. "Please, Sirius. There isn't much time."

"As usual then." He said with a snort, looking tired of this routine. Eleana felt time passing, and his stubborn behaviour did not fit her plan. Therefore she grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him out of the compartment. Then she grabbed his arm and dragged him to a compartment nearby, which to her luck was completely empty.

Sirius was astonished at her determined actions, and found it quite amusing how she had dragged him along. When she slid the door closed behind them and pulled down the curtain to hide them from view, Sirius tried to conceal the feelings of admiration he had for her.

"Now, we're alone... What do you need to say?"

Eleana looked at him as she leaned her back against the curtain covered door. She swallowed hard before she spoke, here voice moderate. "I miss you... and I will miss you. I want you to know that."

"Well you haven't exactly tried to show me lately how much you miss me." Sirius said bitterly.

Eleana threw her head back and closed her eyes for a moment before answering. "You know how complicated things are, you know I _can't._" She said miserably.

"Not a single glance from you, it's as if I don't even exist to you anymore." He was beginning to become angry, the desperate want for her was heating him.

"But you do, you do... you're always on my mind." She said and stepped closer to him. Although Sirius wanted to step back just to make a point, he was unable to, it was as if she was a magnet and he was unable to resist from colliding with her.

Eleana began to fiddle with the collar of his shirt while looking at it with sad eyes, her fingers running along it while she spoke. "I don't know how to solve this, but I can't bear the thought of you being angry with me." And so her eyes met his as they gazed up. Sirius soon realised that she was close to tears, and he sighed, appearing weary.

"Please, don't hate me." She snivelled with a breath before burying her face in his chest, grasping his shirt with her hands. Unable to help herself, she actually felt rather ashamed of her pitiful behaviour, still she held on to him.

"I don't hate you, Eleana... How could I ever hate you?" he said and placed his hands on her shoulders. To Eleana's surprise he was smirking when she looked up. The sight of him caused her eyes to gleam with relieved joy.

"I actually thought you had given up on us." He admitted.

"I'm afraid I don't want to give up on us." She said, knowing that she was bound to, but she felt incapable of doing so.

"Don't be afraid." He said, and ran his fingers through her hair. Eleana put her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. Sirius wrapped his arms around her as well, and one of his hands were placed on her head to press her cheek closer to his chest. After a whole minute or two Eleana began to let go of him.

"I've been away for too long." She said without looking at him. A sad expression had painted her face.

Sirius sighed wretchedly, how many times was she to do this to him? There was never enough time for them, and he wondered if there ever would be. Already they had become all too limited, and in the process they were even hurting each other. It seemed almost impossible to keep this up for very much longer. Still, he couldn't let her go, not yet.

"Write to me." He said, it wasn't a question and it wasn't a clear demand either, merely a plead.

Eleana looked at him for a while. "If I'm able to, I will." She then said, not knowing what her parents had in mind after this year's events. They might be very strict with her after this and check her mail before letting her send it, she did not know yet.

Sirius nodded understandingly and tried not to look all too miserable, it felt painful letting her go home to such a place, he knew how it was to live in that sort of place. But he couldn't convince her either from going, even if he forced her she would return to that dreadful place she called home.

Eleana wanted to say 'I'll see you around' but she wasn't sure if she would, perhaps she would be a prisoner at her home just as she had been at school during the end of this term, though she doubted her father would be so cruel to her. Instead she said: "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too." He said, and tried hard not to let his voice crack, and so his voice sounded stern.

Eleana gave him a last glance before going back to her compartment. Her heart ached, and she knew she had hurt him again. Once again she felt torn and she feared it someday might rip her apart.

When she opened the door to where she had left Caren and Camilla she immediately saw what she had feared, Eithan and the others had joined them. She tried not to look too guilty as she sat down in between Acacius and her brother.

"You were in the bathroom for quite a while." Eithan said, there was no doubt to her that he was suspicious. The others didn't pay much attention to the new conversation, since they had already begun their own.

"Lady troubles." Eleana said, and her brother was taken aback just as she had intended. After that he didn't bring up the subject again.

The Hogwarts Express began to move and so she could see smoke filling the air right outside their window, a whistling sound was heard.

"Are you glad to be coming home again?" Acacius suddenly asked Eleana.

"Actually..." Eleana hesitated before answering a question she did not fully know the answer to. The anxious feeling she felt when thinking about the meeting with her parents was about to consume her answer, but then she thought of home, and the secure feeling it had always provided, now it was demolished and she wondered if it would stay that way. She had never dreaded to return home, it had always been a place she longed for when she was away, and now she realised that her feelings were all of a sudden changed. "I'm going to miss Hogwarts." She then said, it wasn't really a straight answer to his question though.

The answer wasn't what Acacius had expected. "All right" He said fascinated, it was hard for him to read her, and he had expected her to say 'yes' since she had looked so gloom lately, he had assumed she would feel more comfortable at home.

"Who wouldn't miss Hogwarts." He said with a smile, letting her know that he shared her feelings.

"Indeed." And so she forced a weak smile.

* * *

Several hours later they found themselves to be at 9 ¾ platform. They stepped off the train and reclaimed their trunks, and when they had done so Eleana saw her father standing there, he looked solemn in his form. She turned her head to look at Eithan, he also seemed to have caught sight of their father, and he gave her a nod as if to say 'go ahead'. He knew very well how she must feel about engaging in this reunion.

"Hello, father." Eleana said when they reached him.

He simply gave her a nod "Did the journey go well?" he asked, turning to his son.

Never had he greeted her this coldly, he was always cheerful whenever they had been away from each other this long. Now, he barely looked at her, and Eleana felt her heart receiving a crack.

Eleana did not pay attention to the conversation her father and brother were now having, she only felt the lump in her throat making her unable to be anything else but quiet. It was now, when she faced it, she truly realised how her actions had affected the relationship she had with her father.

With the help of Floo powder they were within short at home in their living room. The finest goblin silver decorated their home, velvet, satin and silk were used for furniture, curtains and cushions. Colours such as green, purple and black could be seen.

A little elf with old features welcomed them and was soon occupied with taking care of their luggage. Her name was Minky and she served the Adela family utmost faithfully.

"Oh! Mistress Eleana and Master Eithan, welcome home!" she greeted politely before taking their bags.

"Hello Minky." Eleana said with a smile, yet she could not bring herself to relax since her father was still in the room, and she did not want to seem too cheerful. Eithan merely glanced at the elf and did not even reply, he simply walked straight up the stairs, soon he was no longer within sight for the people in the living room.

"Did your travel go well? With your friends, they're both so nice, what was their names again...? Caren and Camilla, yes, I remember those two girls, very nice." Minky kept saying, while fiddling with the trunks. She seemed to be earning for a cheerful conversation. Eleana could imagine it probably had not been very cheerful at home lately, her father bitter, and her mother sick in bed needing assistance. Also, Minky was not a young elf anymore, she was becoming more and more weary lately.

"Yes." Eleana nodded, glad that someone was happy to see her.

"Eleana!" Her father called, so stern in his tone that it caused Eleana to become all cold on the inside. Instantly, she looked up, and saw her father gesturing for her to come with him.

Eleana glanced at the sad looking elf who looked as if she pitied her, and then turned to follow her father into his study.

"Sit down." He commanded, and Eleana did as he said. Brant Adela then closed the door, which automatically made the room soundproof.

She sat quietly in the green leather chair, anxiously awaiting her doom.

Brant Adela took his time to wander around before he finally sat down in his chair behind the desk. He was stroking his chin as he was thinking, Eleana thought this unbearable waiting was pure torture. She felt her own heart beating in agony, and her breath becoming uneven. Then, he finally spoke.

"When I received the letter from your brother, telling me that you had fallen in love or something akin, I first found it amusing" he took a deep breath "and as I read on... I became more and more concerned and when I was told it was none other than Sirius Black, the deserter, the traitor... I was in shock." He looked at her, she felt as if his eyes were piercing through her. The sorrow in them made Eleana look away, unable to meet them again without feeling sick with guilt.

"Then... when I told your poor mother, she fell very ill. Fainted on the spot, and still she is unwell, barely able to leave her bed. " his tone revealed his anger. "You know, how frail your mother have been, and this sort of news of your behaviour could have killed her of _shame_."

The word 'shame' rang in Eleana's ears, and she closed her eyes for a brief moment in an attempt of closing out the world, it did not work and when she opened her eyes she was still there, in front her father.

"We're both wondering what on Merlin's earth we did wrong." He continued. "Have we not cared for you? Have we not made sure you had everything you needed? Have we not done our utmost in order to make you happy?"

"yes, father." Eleana breathed, as tears were beginning to fill her eyes.

"Then why? Why would you consume your valuable time with that _brute_?" he wondered, having not one clue of why she would.

Eleana didn't have time to answer before her father rapidly stood up, placing his palms on the desk. "Is this how we raised you?!" he shouted.

"Of course not!" Eleana yelled back while staring him in the eye.

"Then why him? Is this some sort of rebellion? Tell me what I and your mother have done to deserve this"

"You haven't done anything! I simply... I simply fell for him all of a sudden."

"You..." he lowered his voice. "You simply..." he was still baffled.

"He's nothing like I thought he was, he's nothing like you think. He's kind, and he adores me... He makes me laugh, and I want to be with him"

"You want to be with him?" he asked, even more baffled than before. This was absurd. "Out of the question!"

"Please father!" Eleana said, with tears in her eyes again.

"I thought you would be at least clever enough to forget him after this, not send your mother to an early death!"

Eleana was quiet, silent tears streamed down her face.

Brant moved from his desk and began to pence back and forth in the room. "Is your family not more important to you than that boy?" he asked solemnly, and when she hesitated to answer his eyes were once again revealing shock.

"_You_, are important to me father, and my family is of course important to me." She then said hurriedly. Then she sniffed and wiped away her tears.

"Then you will never see him again, understood?"

Eleana once again hesitated to answer, longer than before. Her father's gaze became more harsh, as did his voice. "Understood?" he repeated, coming closer.

Eleana refused to answer, she just sat there quietly, feeling tears streaming down her face.

"Well this ends _now_!" he said. "If you do not understand what you're doing, then I must protect you. You will never see him again."

"Please father." Eleana said quietly.

Her father did not look at her again. "Now, go see your mother, and be cautious please, you cannot speak of this as you have done with me. Simply avoid the subject." He moved around his desk and sat down behind it again while speaking, then he put on his glasses and begun to read some parchment lying on his desk trying to think of something else.

Eleana stood up on rather shaky legs, and reached for the silver doorknob which was in the shape of a snake. She felt strange as she went up the stairs to her parents' room. She carefully wiped away the tears on her face and mangled out some wrinkles on her skirt before entering.

Her mother was lying on the grand bed with three pillows under her head, and a teacup with dark liquid was placed beside her on the nightstand. Eithan was sitting beside her, holding her hand, and as soon as he caught sight of his sister he kissed his mother's hand softly and walked out of the room.

Melanie, their mother, had a smile upon her lips and when she turned her head to look at Eleana she was still smiling, yet her eyes were indifferent.

"Eleana, my beautiful daughter, come here." She said warmly and reached out her hand. Eleana went to her and was then fondly embraced by her mother.

"I've missed you." She said in her daughter's ear.

"I missed you too." Eleana said, and then let go. She sat down on the same chair which Eithan had been sitting on.

"So, how was it at Hogwarts this year?" her mother asked casually, and curious, as if she had no idea of what had happened and what had caused her to fall ill.

Eleana was careful, just as her father had said to her, to not mention Sirius. She simply spoke of other things, ordinary things, such as classes, friends, trips to Hogsmeade, quidditch, etc. He mother seemed to become more relaxed as Eleana spoke, and only when she began to talk of quidditch her mother protested.

"Oh, do talk of something else. You know how I find sports completely dull... Though, don't tell your father I said that." She had a smile on her face and her eyes were twinkling after saying it. Eleana chuckled, and then changed the subject to something else. She knew her mother adored fashion, therefore she began to speak of a dress she had once seen a witch wearing in Hogsmeade. She remembered it well since she had thought it was absolutely beautiful.

"It was simple, yet elegant. With buttons in the front, oh mother, you should have seen it."

"What colour was it?"

"Red" Eleana said. "Cardinal red." She added.

"We shall go and shop for dresses some day." Her mother said, taking her daughter's hand.

Eleana kept talking, and she felt happy talking to her mother. This reunion was not at all how she had expected it to be, her mother was ill, no doubt, and that made her feel guilty, yes, but her mother was still looking at her as fondly as ever. To her relief, this still felt like home.

* * *

**Author's note: A long chapter... compared to previous chapters in this story of course. I hope you enjoyed reading it, even though it wasn't exactly completely joyful. Anyhow, I enjoyed writing it. We got to see more of Eleana's parents and what her home is like, or was like. I need my readers to understand that her family isn't 'evil', they're simply trying to protect her, because they love her. Even so, they still have some certain rules they follow in life, and they do what they think is for the best. **

**I've been quite busy lately, and on top of that I caught a cold. So, I'm occupied with studying for exams and busy writing assignments. Still, I am trying to write new chapters for this story. So don't worry, you can expect another chapter in a week. **

**Also, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this story so far ;)**


	19. Precautions

**30 June, 1977**

On this day it had been two weeks since she had come home, and Eleana found herself to be distressed. However, most of all she was bored. When she had been with Sirius she had felt this thrill, and now when he wasn't around anymore everyday was dull.

"Eleana!" her father shouted. The sound came from somewhere downstairs. While it was still echoing through the house she heard hurried small steps from the stairs, and they came closer. Then the little elf knocked three times rapidly on the door before opening the door and peeking in.

"Mistress... Eleana!" the elf said while trying to catch her breath. Her eyes looked bewildered.

Eleana looked up from her book with a questioning look on her face.

"Your father..." the elf breathed. "Wants you to come down... this instance!" The elf seemed to be quite shaken, although she was often easily stunned.

"I'll be down in a minute." Eleana said and began to get up from her bed, but her pace seemed to be too slow for the elf's liking.

"No, we don't have a minute!" Minky exclaimed. "Please, do as your father says." her tone grew more anxious by every second.

Eleana did what she needed in order to calm the elf. Soon she was going down the stairs, and Minky was right behind her.

"Hurry!" she said with her squeaky voice. "Master Adela is so nice to all of us... you should listen to your father." She mumbled, still anxious. Eleana was led to the dining room, and there she saw her father standing by the open fire in the back of the room. He was staring at it, and didn't look at his daughter even though he knew she had entered the room.

"Come here." He said. Eleana did as she was told, and Minky fled into the kitchen.

"What's the matter father?" she asked, sensing that something was wrong.

"I received an owl this morning, your owl..." he said, while still keeping his eyes on the fire. This day had been unusually cold for a day in June, and it had been raining the whole night. The fire brought a warm light to the room during this dark weather.

Eleana said nothing.

"When I said I would put an end to this, did you think I was not telling you the truth?"

"no."

"Then why did you not think that I would take precautions? Did you honestly believe that I would let you send him letters, that I wouldn't find out?" he turned to look at her.

Eleana had not believed that entirely, that was why her father had watched the letter turn into smoke when he grabbed it from the owl's beak.

"no... that's why I took my own precautions." She said, glancing into her father's eyes.

"No more of this!" he shouted. Brant Adela looked more fuming than the fire in front of him. As soon as he had shouted he put his fingers on his temple, trying to keep his emotions intact and not have another outburst. Eleana watched him intently. After a few deep breaths he seemed to calm down a bit. He let his hand fall to his side, and looked at her as he sighed unhappily.

"That spell, I must say, was impressive." He then complimented.

"Thank you... I practiced." She said a little timidly.

Her father smiled, yet it did not reach his eyes which showed how distressed he was. He reached out for her and put his hands on her cheeks.

"Eleana" he began tenderly."I do not want to be your enemy, I do not want fight with you this way." He looked as if he was in emotional anguish. "Please... you're my daughter." His hands went to her shoulders instead. "I love you, very, very much... Don't hurt me like this."

Eleana then let her father embrace her, and she hugged him tightly. She didn't say anything to him, although she thought in her head, 'If you'll stop hurting me, I will'. Her father was hurting her just as much as she was hurting him when he didn't trust her to be with whom she wanted. She believed Sirius was good for her, and she knew he made her happy, but her father didn't listen to her. He was sacrificing her happiness for the family's reputation.

* * *

**28 July, 1977**

July finally brought the warm weather to them. The sun was shining, flowers were blooming, birds were singing and Melanie was finally taking her daughter shopping.

Eleana's mother had been doing a lot better ever since her children had returned, and now, she was quite alert. At least alert enough to go to Hogsmeade with Eleana.

During several hours they went from store to store and this meant a lot of money was spent that day. Her mother had bought some things to decorate the house with, a vase for example, and also some jewellery for her own appreciation. Eleana had bought some clothes, yet one dress in particular was worth more than all the other garments in their bag. It was red, and looked quite similar to the one she had seen a while ago, it wasn't exactly the same however; this one looked better.

Eleana was content with the dress, although her mother had insisted they would buy some other clothes which fitted her, and Eleana didn't object. She enjoyed spending time with her mother, and since they had not done so in a long time, not like this, she was happy and presently had no thought of what had been bothering her lately.

When her mother told her to wait outside while she ran back into the store to check if they had a scarf matching her newly bought dress, Eleana waited patiently, and all of a sudden she spotted a familiar face. He was standing just a few meters away, by the corner of the store. While staring right at her, he smirked when seeing her shocked expression. Actually, she thought he also looked quite baffled as well.

Eleana looked through the glass of the store's door, and saw her mother being completely occupied by the salesman which was now showing her some shoes. She looked interested in them too, therefore Eleana figured it might take a while for her to come back outside.

"Hello." She said when she reached Sirius. Then she was about to embrace him but then remembered herself and stopped. There were people all around them.

"Alright?" he asked.

"Yes." She said casually with a nod, while looking around discreetly.

"I figured since you didn't write, perhaps-"

Eleana cut in, "No, I'm fine. But I won't be able to send you any letters, father's quite angry with me."

"Okay" he said, his eyebrows twitching. Eleana understood he was not happy about this.

"I'm here with my mom, we're shopping." Eleana said, wanting to change the subject. "What are you doing here?"

Sirius shrugged, and still looked thoughtfully puzzled. "When will I see you then?" he asked, clearly he did not want to change the subject into what Eleana had planned.

She sighed. "I don't know."

Sirius nodded, and then scratched his neck. "and you're sure you're alright?"

Eleana smiled warmly at him. "Yes." She said, although it wasn't entirely true. Still, she felt fine when in his presence.

"They weren't too hard on you?" he sounded concerned.

"No." Eleana wanted to hold him, and tell him everything, but she knew there wasn't enough time and she didn't want him to worry about her until they met again, and who knew when they would? She wanted to calm him, and take away that troubled look on his face.

"Your mother's coming." He then said and looked behind her somewhere.

Eleana looked alarmed. "We'll find a way, okay?" she said, and only when she had gotten a nod from Sirius did she turn around to meet her mother. Fortunately her mother had not seen Sirius, if she had she probably would have fallen ill again.

"There you are." She said, and was carrying a box which she then placed in her bag. "Shall we go home now sweetheart? I'm feeling quite tired actually, especially my feet are begging for a rest."

"Yes, I'm satisfied." Eleana said with a smile, and shortly they found themselves to be at home again.

"Ugh! All these ashes are penetrating my coat." Her mother said as she brushed it off before taking it off. Minky, the house elf, was shortly within the room and willing to take care of the coat. Eleana wasn't wearing one since she had thought it was too hot outside today, but her mother was still easily frozen.

Brant Adela then walked into the living room "Darling, you're back." He said before kissing his wife's cheek fondly. "Will I find my bank vault to be completely drained tomorrow?" he asked, acting solemn.

"Maybe a little" Melanie answered with an innocent shrug. The husband tried to hold back a smile.

"Your daughter's found a marvellous dress!" she then said. "It's worth every galleon."

"How nice." He said and glanced at his daughter, then he put an arm around Melanie's waist and began to lead her to the stairs. "Now, you've been out all day, should you not rest?"

"Yes, I might do so, I'm feeling awfully tired Brant."

Eleana didn't hear the rest of the conversation, she began unpacking from the bag which her mother had been carrying. The inside of it was as large as a storeroom, and there were many shopping bags and boxes inside of it.

* * *

**30 July**

A bumblebee buzzed quietly, and landed amongst the white flowers. The sun was still shining as brightly as yesterday. Eleana seized its sunrays where she sat at the end of the massive garden, in a garden chair made out of black crystal. She laid her head back and rested there for a while until she heard something rustle amongst the trees behind her. She looked in the direction of the sound, and saw someone standing there, partly hidden by the shadows.

Eleana gasped and stood up, and then the person stepped forward.

"Wait!" he exclaimed, while trying to do it as quietly as possible. "It's only me." Sirius said.

Eleana held a hand to her heart and breathed out. "Sirius, what are you doing here?" she sounded alarmed. "If someone sees you..." she said, and went to him only to push him back into the shadows of the trees.

"Then let's stay hidden." He said with a grin, apparently he was happy that he had found a way to see her. "I wanted to see you."

"How did you know where I lived?" she asked.

"I have my ways." He said.

Eleana smiled, but not as much as she could have. She was worried, he was too close to where her family was, and he even was on their land. This was dangerous, no doubt.

"I can't believe you're here." She said, happy that he was, and also thinking that this was stupid. She wondered how he had managed to get over the gates, but she did not ask since he probably would shrug and say something that would not answer her question. It was surely something dangerous, something that would be on the verge of getting caught.

"Well, I am" he said and touched her hair.

"If my father sees you-"

"Then let's make sure he won't." Sirius said, as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

At first Eleana sighed, then when she looked into his eyes she eventually began to smile. Sirius stood leaned against the bole of a tree, and Eleana leaned in as he pulled her closer to him, his hands on each side of her waist. The kiss was tender, and became deeper and more intense the longer they kept going.

His hands suddenly went further down, and it wasn't that they had not been there before, it was more that this time they grasped it. Before they had touched, quite gently, this time his hands were really feeling their way around. Boldly they felt their way.

Eleana felt herself become all hot on the inside, and her heart beat 'thumped' harder and more frequently in her chest. He always did this to her, she had realised.

Their lips parted, but were still very close when Eleana said, "You should come by more often." She said. Then she immediately regretted it, because this was risky, for her and especially for him. She didn't want to encourage him into doing so.

"I definitely will" he said, and kissed her again, once. After he had, Eleana looked down on the buttons of his black vest. She fiddled with them until Sirius sensed that something was wrong. These dismal expressions which she sometimes had on her face was worrying him to bits.

"What's the matter?" he asked, placing a few fingers under her chin to make her meet his eyes. She did so, barely willingly, she didn't want him to see her being sad although she couldn't hide it from him it seemed.

It took a moment before she answered. "He will never accept us." she said, while tears were making her eyes gleam.

"Who?" he asked, even if he had a clue who it might be.

"My father." She said miserably. "and the rest of my family won't either."

Sirius could see her lower lip beginning to slightly quiver. "Oi - don't cry" he said, and at the same time a tear fell down her cheek and she looked down, fairly embarrassed. When she did so, he managed to make her look at him again by placing his hands on her cheeks.

"It will never work..." she whimpered, while tears were streaming down her face.

Sirius had never seen her this vulnerable. "Eleana... " he said softly, then she looked away from him "Eleana!" he said more sternly, her blue eyes met his gaze. "We'll make it work... alright?"

Eleana nodded barely noticeable, and when she had, Sirius pulled her close to his chest end held her there. She did not protest, and let her tear stained face soil the fabric of his clothes.

"Father was angry with me..." she began to mumble. Sirius listened.

"I've never seen him that angry, nor disappointed... he yelled at me, and now... he's not the father I know, Sirius. He's different towards me, and I'm nearly a prisoner in my own home... I feel so restricted."

Even though she spoke quietly Sirius had heard every word, and he felt his insides beginning to boil. 'Bastards' he thought to himself, and felt how he was becoming more and more resentful towards these people. It was wrong, and it was cruel to keep your own daughter a prisoner, he thought. 'these proud people and their blood mania." he kept thinking bitterly.

There was a few seconds of silence, and Eleana felt Sirius hand stroking her back consolingly the whole time. She felt safe, and most of all she felt accepted when in his arms.

"Eleana..." Sirius commenced. "You could... you know... come st-"

"ELEANA" her father shouted from the balcony door where he was standing.

Eleana pushed away from Sirius and looked towards the house with wide eyes. "I have to go." She mumbled.

Before she could, Sirius grabbed a hold of the skirt of her white summer dress, with the intention of keeping her there just for a moment.

"Please, Sirius. I have to go. " she said, looking at him while glancing frequently at the house behind the tree he was leaning against.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked, quite demandingly while holding her quite close.

"I don't know." She said hurriedly. Naturally she wanted to be with him, although at the same time she didn't want him to get into trouble by coming here. "I really have to go now."

"ELEANA!"

Sirius did not let go, even though she tried to walk away.

"Please, Sirius." Her eyes pleading.

"I'll be here tomorrow then, same time, same place." His voice casual.

Eleana did not have time to protest, she just vaguely smiled at his stubbornness and nodded. Sirius smirked, and Eleana felt the irresistible urge to kiss him, and so she did. Then she rushed off, and slipped out of his grasp. Sirius half attempted to take another grasp of her dress, but she was already too far away.

He received a last smile from her when she once looked back before stepping out of concealing shadow created by the trees. The smile she had given was as warm as the sun along with the look in her eyes, and her lips were as red as the roses planted not far away from where he was standing.

Then Sirius took a few steps forward, carefully though, he did not want to be visible to her father. Concealed by the shadows and the far distance he watched her reach the glass doors, which had black ornaments for decoration engraved onto the glass.

Her father had moved from the balcony and went downstairs to meet her in the doorway. Sirius could not hear what he was saying, although he could tell he seemed rather upset by his movements.

"Where were you?" Mr Adela's voice sounded strict.

"In the garden... I went for a stroll." She said innocently, hiding her mischief well.

"Why didn't you come when I called?"

"I had almost fallen asleep on the bench I was sitting in, it took me a while to collect the energy I needed in order to rise."

"Well..." Brant was lost for words, he suddenly realised how paranoid he was acting , making assumptions like this, and being very mistrusting. This had gone too far; he lowered his gaze and sighed. "Don't go too far, will you?" he said as he met her gaze.

Eleana saw her father's tired eyes and nodded perceptively. As soon as she did a little smile formed on his lips, and he looked as if he wanted to embrace her but resisted the urge. Instead, he simply blinked fondly at her before leaving to occupy himself in his office.

That garden was far too big, he realised. He should have it razed to the ground. What was he thinking? Brant's head was aching. His daughter was a good girl, she always had been. Clever as well. Then why did he fear that a rebellious boy had taken her from him. That this boy had fooled her into making foolish decisions which she would regret, and forcing her to hurt her family. This fear was finally coming to something close to a rest now when he had had her at home for a while, when she had been close to her family things were getting better. It was simply a little crush, he told himself, she didn't actually love him, no, no... Brant Adela had been dismissing the whole thing more and more lately in his mind, and so he became calmer.

Besides, how could he had believed she would have met anyone in the garden, since he had several protecting spells around the whole mansion, and it's courtyard. Surely that boy could not possess the ability to get inside without him noticing. No, he needed to trust his daughter again, and he needed to be the father she loved and admired.

Mr Adela felt his shoulders relax a bit, and he gave a sigh of temporary content as he stepped inside his office.

* * *

**Author's note: Always this secrecy... Anyhow, I've been able to finish at least two more chapters, but I will not be posting the next chapter until next week. I hope you have noticed that the chapters are becoming longer, and I expect the following ones to be keeping that length. Thank you for your time ;)**


	20. Hello, Love

**31 July, 1977**

Around the same time she had met Sirius the day before, she was now seated by the fountain surrounded by nicely cut trees; the same trees which the two of them had been standing under yesterday.

The water was pouring out from the hands of the statue of a woman, it was unleashed into the air and fell downwards hitting the water's surface and creating motion. There were three identical women placed in a triangle, back to back with one another. They each unleashed water into the fountain which in the light of the sun was glistening.

Eleana sat on the marble edge while looking into the water. When she was a child she had been quite careless when balancing on the edge while taking a stroll, and so she had fallen in. It was quite deep, and for a small child it was an ocean. She remembered the water consuming her, as she gasped for air the water filled her lungs, and when she tried to scream she felt her insides burn like fire. As she desperately tried to reach the surface, with no luck, a white marble arm grabbed her with a surprisingly soft grasp.

A moment later she was on the grass coughing up water and crying in between them. The marble statue which had saved her entered its former place and became once again completely still, showing no tendency of being alive.

Eleana soon recovered, and was too frightened by the event to go near the fountain again for several years. Now she remembered it with fascination, and as she gazed at the statues in search for movement she soon accepted that they would not make any.

"Hello, love." Sirius' voice said into her ear, and it nearly caused her to fall in.

Eleana grasped the edges and felt Sirius hand grabbing her arm. "Careful there!" he said, and soon began to laugh when he had made sure she sat steady on the edge again.

"Sirius!" she exclaimed, though she tried to say it quietly as she looked at him. "Don't frighten me like that!"

Sirius smirked and let go of her.

Eleana glanced towards the house and realised that the area they were standing in was viewable from the second floor and up. Therefore she indistinctively motioned him towards the shadow of the trees.

It did not take long before Sirius understood what she was doing, and he went along. His body was tense with excitement, and he could not put out the grin on his face. He had news for her and he desperately wanted to tell her, but most of all show her.

"I want to show you something." It escaped him when they were under the trees. White flowers from it were hanging down among them, they even got caught in Eleana's hair.

"Show me something?" she asked, with a confused expression on her face as she combed her hair with her fingers to get rid of the flowers which had caught in it

"Yes." Sirius said, his grin grew bigger. Then, with some effort he managed to merge it down a little, containing his excitement. His hand went to her hair to help her remove the prosperous flowers. "It won't take long." He said and took her hand to lead her away.

Eleana stopped him before he could take more than a few steps. "Show me what? Sirius you know I can't go anywhere."

"I promise, it won't take long" he begged.

Eleana did not look exactly happy about this, yet she was considering it. She glanced towards the house. "Well... mother and father went out for the day, and Eithan isn't at home either." She shilly-shallied. He father had finally begun to trust her again, could she really risk spoiling it all?

Sirius convincing grey eyes, visible under a few strands of black hair made the choice for her.

"Only for a moment then." She said, at rather unease. Then she became rather excited as Sirius began to grin like a little boy. He looked so very eager as he lead her through the corridor towards the gate, which was covered with hanging flowers coloured in deep purple. Although he tried to contain his boyish exhilaration, he did not manage too well. Eleana began to giggle as they half ran through the long corridor.

When they reached the gate he picked up a broom he had hidden in a bush. Eleana frowned, so this was how he had managed to get inside, though it could not be that simple.

"You flew over?"

"Yes" he said with a proud nod. "and..." he added. "I had to use James' cloak, and work some minor spells so I wouldn't set off any alarms."

Eleana smiled, Sirius really was clever.

He sat down on the broom which was already hovering in the air, and looked at her expectantly. "Are you coming along?" he asked, since she was just standing there.

She nodded and sat down on the broom right behind him. She wrapped her arms around him after he had put the cloak over them, he wouldn't want them to be seen. It was sort of tricky to fly with an invisibility cloak on, still he had managed somehow.

They did not fly very far, just to a small forest which was in the area. There, they landed, and Sirius placed his broom by a tree and the invisibility cloak close to it. Then he went over to something Eleana had not seen at first, it was large and black.

Eleana's eyes went wide at the sight of it, and Sirius grinned proudly. "Isn't she lovely." He said and caressed the shining metal.

It was one of those things that muggles used, she remembered from that book Sirius showed her, this was one just like it. The seat was in black leather and it had all the artefacts it seemed to need.

"It's a..." she didn't remember what they called it.

"Motorbike" Sirius filled in. "or motorcycle." He added with a grin. "Do you remember?"

"Of course I remember." She said with a smile, and still felt baffled that he actually had one. It suited him she thought, and the sight of him leaning on it somewhat fascinated her.

"I bought it a few weeks ago" he said, pride still lingering in his voice. "Then I fixed it up a little, added a few things that could be of use." Excitement in his eyes.

Eleana watched it with a strange look in her eyes.

"Now... " he was leading the motorcycle from the tree and sat down on it astride. "do you want to go for a ride?"

Eleana was quiet, she knew it would hurt his present excitement if she declined, but what choice did she have? "Sirius..." she began.

His lips which had recently been shaped as a smile were now formed into a sulky pout. Although, he tried not to look too hurt.

"I can't" she said, then trying to cheer him up she moved closer to him, "you know I can't."

He did not look at her, instead he kept his eyes on his motorcycle. "No, I understand." He still wasn't looking at her.

"Sirius..."

"No, I get it!"

"I don't think you do." She said solemnly.

His eyes caught hers, and then he sighed. "Alright... perhaps I don't" he shrugged, sounding very tired.

Eleana understood that he was tired, she was too. It was remarkable that he was still trying to see her in spite of all the trouble it caused them. "I know how you feel." She said softly and touched his cheek with a touch softer than her tone.

Sirius simply looked at her.

"I feel frustrated, all the time. I feel like I can't solve the problem which is nagging me, either way I choose... I lose someone _I love_."

Sirius blinked, and felt her fair fingers intertwine in his dark hair. There was an awfully a lot of things he wanted to tell her, yet he didn't make a sound. He wanted to tell her to choose him, although he knew it was selfish to do so. He wanted to tell her that he loved her, that he loved her so much he was sometimes afraid that it would destroy him completely. He wanted to ask her to come live with him in the place he bought for the money he had inherited from a relative. The fear however, for her to decline and reject him was keeping him quiet.

"Sirius... I'm in love with you."

His hands found her waist, and he pulled her closer to him; The red fabric against his touch. He looked as if he was in pain, and he was. The same pain Eleana felt. Their foreheads connected, and she closed her eyes while breathing in his scent.

"Don't let me go." He said quietly, yet firmly, as if it was more of a command than a plead.

She put her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. Her lips motioning against his. Sirius wrapped his arms around her body, and lifted her on top of the motorcycle in order to press her closer to him.

After a while, none of them knew if it had been hours or minutes since they began, but they eventually stopped and carefully pulled away from one another. Their arms were still wrapped around each other, their faces very close, eyes closed.

"I think I better go." She said, while not wanting to.

Sirius kissed her again, and showed no sign of letting her go.

Eleana became lost in the kiss, until she finally pulled away, with more power and determination this time. Their eyes were locked on each other.

There was a minute of silence until Sirius spoke. "Could I see you tonight?" he asked with a weak smile, since he thought she would definitely tell him 'no'. Still, he desperately wanted to see her soon.

The question was daring. The answer was bound to be 'no', however, Eleana wondered it there might be a leap hole. It was not entirely impossible. "Maybe." She said. The word lingered in the air and created hope.

"I'll come tonight then." He said eagerly.

"I said maybe..." Eleana said firmly, however she was unable to hide her smile.

"Should I meet you outside the gates?" his grin was teasing her now.

Eleana sighed when rolling her eyes, and then she touched the collar of his black jacket as she looked at him. "Meet me here." She said distinctly. "Do not come near the gate, I don't want anybody to see you."

Sirius nodded and was just happy that she had agreed to meet him; therefore he kept quiet, not wanting to risk her changing her mind.

"At midnight, wait for me here." She looked anticipating "Could you take me back now?" she said with a smile.

Sirius beheld her rosy coloured lips while she spoke, and then he looked into her eyes. "Certainly... but only after you let me kiss you once more."

Eleana leaned in to kiss him.

* * *

Two hours after she had returned to her home, her parents together with Minky arrived home. They used apparition for travelling and landed on the doorstep.

Eleana heard the front door open and she expectantly looked up from her '_witches' magazine_' when her father entered the living room.

"Hello." She said.

"Hello." Brant greeted her. "Has Eithan come home yet?"

"Not yet." She replied and skimmed through her magazine.

He nodded. "Has everything been well while we were gone?"

"Yeah." She said, not looking at him.

"Good..." and while deep in thought he left.


	21. Daughter of the Sun

The house was quiet, everyone was asleep. Eithan had by this time not yet come home, and Brant Adela was quite worried although he said nothing. His son must decide for himself, and he knew exactly what people he was spending his time with, however he did not know what they were doing; Although he had his theories.

For years now there had been uncertainties of what was really happening, people disappearing, people who had been tormented, people were even found dead. The one who they called the Dark Lord was putting fear in everyone. Clearly opposing the ministry with the goal of cleansing the world of muggle-borns and 'other filth', he created terror.

This had been going on for years now, and every day it became more and more evident when you read the papers. It was clear to Brant that a lot of his relatives and acquaintances approved of this dream that a 'pure society' could be created. Brant did not know exacly what he thought, at first he had considered it to be somewhat good. Then, as more chaos and terror was established he did not approve. But he could not say so aloud, he could not oppose himself to the dark one, to do so would be foolish and dangerous. He could not endanger his whole family, he could not risk their lives.

Now, he suspected his son might be involved in what they called the dark lord's inner circle. He realised his son was on the verge of becoming one of his closest allied. He did not know if he should be proud or devastated since he knew it was dangerous, the dark one was not one you could disappoint.

And his daughter, Eleana. His hair had nearly turned gray when hearing of hers and Sirius' relationship. She was unaware of the real dangers, and he had tried to stop it from happening. When she had told him that she was in love with Sirius Black he remembered how cold he had gone on the inside, out of fright. In times like this, who knew which ones could be trusted. Certainly not Sirius Black. First of all he had left his family, a good family, a wealthy one, a pure one, and he hated everything similar to his family. He was allied with the ones they now had to call enemies.

Brant could not help but to question his motives, why did he set his claws into his innocent daughter? He was young, still he could be some sort of spy. He could use Eleana in order to gain what he wanted. Brant could not trust him, he only resented him for putting his daughter in danger.

He was trying to keep his family out of the war, but it was impossible. If there was not a war, and times weren't as dark as they were now, he probably still wouldn't approve of Sirius; however things were far too complex now. His daughter could not be involved with Sirius, it was just too dangerous.

It was these sort of thoughts that kept him up at night. Several times he heard Melanie call him from the bed where she lay, sometimes she even came to fetch him if he had gone as far as his office. He could tell she was worried about him, and he did not want her to be. He always returned to her when she called, and held her warm body close to his in order to fall asleep. The smell of her hair soothed him, it smelled of roses, like the ones they had in their garden.

He had to protect the ones who were closest to him.

* * *

Eleana sneaked out when the clock struck twelve, the sounds of every striking drowned the sound of her footsteps as she went down the stairs. She was wearing her red dress as she had been wearing the whole day, and she had also put on a black cardigan in case it was chilly outside. She kept her feet light as she snaked outside, and when she had closed the door with utmost carefulness she put on her shoes which she had been carrying in her hand.

She opened the gate without problems, the spells put on it were only for none family members. She closed it with delicate effort, careful not to make too much noise. There was a copse not far away, it took her three minutes to walk.

There was no sign of Sirius, and she was sure that the tree she was now leaning against was the same tree where he had placed his motorcycle when they last met.

She looked at the wristwatch she had borrowed from her brother, and saw that he was five minutes late. Surely he would turn up any second now, she thought. She waited, and waited, and an hour later when she was sitting on the cold ground the sound of a vehicle was heard. It was muffled but audible.

The motorbike landed on the ground amongst the trees. Its driver spotted her and jumped off of it as he approached her while leading it.

Eleana got on her feet "You're late." she said and hugged her elbows, the midnight air had cooled her.

Sirius on the other hand looked flushed and his hair was tousled by the wind. He also seemed to be in a very good mood while he moved as if he was tired from exertion.

"I'm sorry" he said with a smile as he left his bike to greet her properly.

He didn't seem sorry at all to Eleana. When he leaned in to kiss her she diverged his intention and looked away.

"I've been standing here for over an hour."

Sirius sighed. "I'm sorry." He said again, he wasn't smiling. This time he meant it. "I got caught up with something" and so he was smiling again.

"Well I hope it was worth it because I'm leaving." She said when hearing the thrill in his voice, thereafter she began to walk away.

Sirius caught up with her and now stood in front of her, making her stop. She did not look pleased. He grabbed her shoulders while staring her deep in the eye.

"I'm sorry! Alright... Eleana you know I want to see you, this was my idea. I just got caught up in something I thought wouldn't go on for so long... you should have been there though, it was swell"

"Are you going to tell me what you've been doing all night?" she asked, and he could tell she still had not forgiven him.

Sirius let go of her and hesitated before answering. Was it wise to tell her that he and James had been speeding on his motorcycle while being chased by three death eaters, and also being stopped by two policemen before the death eaters caught up with them. She would definitely consider it dangerous. Also, perhaps he shouldn't mention that her brother had been one of the death eaters on a broomstick, and that Sirius had fired a spell which sent him crashing to the ground.

Eleana was waiting with raised eyebrows.

"Well..." he scratched his neck. "you see... Me and James were taking a ride, and... lost track of time." He shrugged innocently.

Eleana stared at him. "You left me standing here out in the cold for over an hour because you lost track of time?"

Sirius bit his lip and realised how bad it sounded. "kind of.. yeah." He felt like he should add something to make it better. "You should have seen the tricks we pulled, it was fantastic."

It did not make it better.

"Hey! don't leave... Please."

"I'm taking a risk here! and I expect you to at least care enough to show up on time."

"Eleana, I do care... I do care." And so he embraced her fondly. She let him do it although she was angry with him, she even hugged him back, letting her hands slip under his jacket and hug his t-shirt covered back.

"You're cold" Sirius said alarmingly as he hugged her tighter.

"Obviously. You would be too if you'd been standing out here as long as I have." The tone in her voice was bitter.

"Take my jacket." Sirius said and began to take it off.

"But then you will be cold." She protested.

"No, I won't... I'm warm, can't you tell?" he said and put the jacket over her shoulders.

As he embraced her again she answered, "Yes, you are." And he really was. The warmth comforted her and made her own cheeks blossom with health. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me, you should be sending a jinx my way for being so late."

Eleana hit him teasingly, and they both began to laugh. Then their lips connected in an ecstatic kiss with arms wrapped around one another. Her hands went to his shoulders and down on his arms. Then when her grasp became a little firmer he grunted and parted their lips as he moved his left arm away from her grasp.

Confused, Eleana looked at him worriedly. The expression on his face made it clear he was in pain, although he tried to hide it with a smirk on his lips.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, it's nothing." He said and turned his arm away from her so she wouldn't see it.

"Sirius, are you hurt?"

"No, no... I'm fine."

"It's your arm isn't it?"

"It's just a scratch."

Eleana realised she had something wet on her fingers, she looked at her own hand and saw dried blood. "You're bleeding!" she said with terror and tried to get a sight of his arm.

Sirius struggled for her not to see it, but eventually she grabbed him by the wrist in order to keep him still. With a sigh he gave up.

The wound in his bicep was moist with blood, it was fresh and without doubt painful.

"Eleana, it's nothing... Really."

"Really?" she said doubtfully and continued to inspect the wound.

"See, the bleeding's almost stopped now, it's fine."

Eleana took out her wand and out of it came a bandage which secured itself around his arm. At least she could do that.

"Thank you." He said, and felt bad that she had to see that. Clearly she was worried.

"You failed to mention that you had an accident."

"Yeah, I thought it would be best not to worry you."

"You know you can tell me, Sirius. You can. Whatever it is, you can tell me." And so she embraced him again, while careful not to hurt him.

Sirius considered telling her the truth about his 'accident', that one of the death eaters had hit him with a spell right after he had sent Eithan Adela to the ground. He missed fairly, that's why it only scratched his arm. If the spell had hit him properly, he might be dead by now. This information would make her panic he thought, and he decided not to tell her. "You want to go for a ride now?" he asked instead.

Eleana looked up into his eyes and smiled. "Only if you avoid stunts that will send you to St Mungo's."

"I'll try." He said teasingly, his voice pleasantly warm in its tone.

He went to his motorcycle and placed himself astride on it. Meanwhile Eleana placed her arms in each sleeve of his jacket and then went to him.

"Hop on up."

She did as he said and while she did she remembered that she was wearing a dress, and her underwear was probably showing when her legs were apart. However, Sirius didn't notice since he was turned the other way.

"You need to hold on to me." he said before he started the engine.

Eleana moved closer to him and placed her arms around his chest. The engine roared loudly, and Eleana prayed to Merlin that her parents wouldn't awake from the sound.

The wheels began to roll, they drove out on the meadow and then lifted into the air. Eleana had seen him fly it on his way here, but remembered that an ordinary motorcycle used by the muggles could not fly. 'It must be one of his _'additions'_ she thought.

Eleana had never really enjoyed using broomsticks, given that she was afraid of heights. They were lifting higher and higher into the air in an immense speed, and she had to close her eyes. Her skirt fluttered around her, exposing her thighs, and her hair blew backwards in the wind.

Sirius felt Eleana's fingers dig into his chest and it made him glance back, trying to get a sight of her. "You alright there, love?"

"I'm fine." Eleana said with a trembling voice. "It's just so exhilarating"

"I know." He said with a grin, and to Eleana's dismay he made them soar higher into the air. She looked down, everything looked so extremely small, and the stars felt bigger than she had ever seen them. Would they soon reach space? The air felt thin in her lungs and she realised she was in complete panic.

"Sirius."

"Yeah?" he shouted to overpower the sound of the engine and the wind which was blowing in their ears.

"Could we land somewhere?" she said, almost on the verge of fainting.

"Sure!" he answered and began to dive. Eleana felt the pressure in her ears ease so rapidly that it almost hurt.

Two minutes later they landed on a large grass covered cliff, close to the ocean. As soon as the engine was off Sirius let go of the handlebars and dragged a hand through his ruffled hair.

Eleana did not let go of him, and he turned his head to look at her curiously. "You alright?"

"uhu" she mumbled reassuringly into his back.

"Really?" The corners of Sirius' mouth twitched as he tried to keep himself from laughing. She was obviously lying.

Eleana sensed that he had seen right through her, and she then hugged him tighter. "I'm afraid of heights." She admitted.

"Of heights... Why didn't you tell me?"

"I forgot how afraid I was... I've not been on a broom for over four years now, and when on it I never went nearly as high as we did"

Sirius felt kind of bad that the ride had been so unpleasant for her, yet he still thought it would have been better if she had told him so earlier. With a smirk he eased her fingers from his chest, and realised that they had probably left some marks visible if he removed his t-shirt.

Eleana grabbed a hold of herself and let go of him completely.

Sirius put down the main stand and flung his leg over to the other side in order to stand. Then he turned to face Eleana who was straightening out her skirt, making it cover her thighs.

"let's take it easy for a while then, come on." he offered his hand.

Eleana took it and climbed off the large motorbike. She stood on rather shaky legs. To her relief Sirius held his hand around her waist as they went closer to the edge. They stopped before reaching it and sat down on the ground.

Sirius laid down on his back in the dew sprinkled grass. Eleana watched him where he lay, with his head resting on his hands. She was drawn to him and placed herself beside him, gazing up towards the starry sky. Thousands or even million of stars were sparkling amongst the darkness, and Eleana who was a fairly good astronomer could immediately spot the star called 'Sirius'.

"Do you see it?" she asked with her tender voice.

"See what?"

"Your star?"

"My star?" he said, but it did not take long before he remembered. Of course, there was a star out there which had his name. "Right, my star..." he begun to search the nightly sky for it.

Eleana waited for him to find it, although it took a while and she could not stop herself from saying "Were my teaching skills that bad?"

"No, no.." he grinned while continuing to search the glistening sky. "You were a really good teacher... at least on the snogging subject" he snorted.

"Oh, shut it!" She laughed. "It's over there." She said and pointed towards it, it seemed to be quite far down on the sky.

"Where?"

"Right there" she said and pointed more evidently.

"Oh, right. Now I see it." He said.

"It shines brightly." She mentioned.

"It does." He agreed, observing it.

They stayed silent for a while. Eleana put her arm around him and rested her head on his chest. The warmth he beamed heated her cheek. She could hear the beating of his heart, the rhythm soothed her.

Sirius broke the silence after a while. "Now I'm wondering... if I'm named after a star, what are you named after?"

Eleana opened her eyes and saw a breeze making the grass waver mildly. "I'm named after a star which shines even brighter than yours actually."

"Now what star could that be?" Sirius searched the sky for it, but it was hard to see since the stars were nearly not visible anymore.

"I'll show you in a couple of minutes" Eleana said and closed her eyes again.

A confused Sirius drew his eyebrows together and waited. He held his arm around her, making sure that she stayed warm.

Eleana sat up after a quarter of an hour had passed, and she looked quite sleepy in Sirius's eyes. Then she turned her head to the horizon.

"There you have it." She said.

Sirius supported himself on his elbows and looked. There was the sun, it was on its way up from the horizon; within an hour it would part from it.

"The sun? The _sun_... you're named after the sun." His eyes lit up, the answer to his question had finally been presented.

"My name means '_daughter of the sun' _" she looked at him. "My father thought it was suitable since I was born at the break of dawn." A smile tensed the corners of her mouth, then she all of a sudden looked quite sad as if she remembered something painfully. She looked down on her knees.

Sirius had by now figured that she was exceptionally close to her father, and he knew that her involvement with a blood traitor like him was hurting their relationship. But what could he do about it? He could let her go, end it, but it would be the end of him to do so. He did not own the strength for it. No matter what she told him, he still believed her family was wicked, and Sirius was definite that her father certainly was.

She looked at him again, this time with tears in her eyes. Sirius stared at her, not knowing what to do to comfort her; she fortunately told him.

"Please hold me, Sirius." She pleaded.

Without hesitating he put his arms around her. Eleana buried her face against his shoulder.

A few hours later, when the sun had parted and was above the horizon they had returned to the copse near Adela's property.

"I had a wonderful time." Eleana complimented while looking at him with fairly gleaming eyes. She felt very happy.

"Then we'll have to do it again sometime." Sirius smirked.

"Mhm." Eleana leaned in and kissed him while standing by his motorcycle. Sirius was leaning against it while he kissed her back; cupping her face with his hands.

Eleana leaned back and was about to say the words which were known to both of them, she decided not to. Instead she simply smiled and backed away.

Sirius held her hand as long as possible until she was too far away for his reach. His hand fell to his side and he could still feel the warmth she had left in it. Neither of them said 'goodbye', they simply departed while smiling tenderly at one another.

* * *

Before Eleana could reach the gate a figure appeared out of thin air right in front of it. A very tired, and bummed Eithan Adela caught sight of her. After his painful fall Sirius had put him through he had broken his arm and two ribs, and he had been healing during the most of the night at Avery's house. His friend's sister who was gifted with being skilled at healing spells had mended him, and now he only felt some numbness in the healed bones.

He stared at her shockingly, and then Eleana realised the sound of a motorbike's engine could still be heard from a far distance, Eithan had acknowledged the sound too.

"bloody hell!" he said through his teeth and was about to go after him. He had his wand out and Eleana then jumped at him.

"No!" she exclaimed and grabbed a hold of his arm.

Eithan tried to shake her off and he would have if Eleana had not been so prepared. She held on fiercely, and knew Sirius was going further away, out of sight.

"Let go!" he shouted angrily. "I'm going to kill the bastard"

"No! Eithan don't!" she pleaded and held on to him with all of her might. If he wasn't weakened from tonight's incident he probably would have fought her off by now, he was bigger in size and stronger than her.

When they had both come to the realisation of the insight that Sirius was far away by now, they settled down. Eleana was still holding on to his sleeve though, just to assure herself he wouldn't try to go after him.

Eithan's eyes were set on her and they saw red. It scared her, and she began to tremble. His wand flickered and the gate flew open. Eleana looked at it and then to her brother.

"Inside... _now_" he said through his teeth.

Eleana let go, and took a few steps towards the gate. She was about to stop but continued when she had made sure that Eithan was following her, she did not want him to go after Sirius and lock her inside.

* * *

When they were inside an alarmed father came down the stairs in his black and silver coloured robe. He slowed down as he caught sight of them both, appearing surprised and very confused.

"Eleana..." he then said. "What..?" he was looking for a reasonable explanation for her windblown hair, it was evident that she had been outside. He turned to Eithan, and when he saw his infuriated appearance he realised his fears had become reality.

"She's impossible father." Eithan said bitterly.

Brant Adela slowly approached his beloved daughter. "Did you see _him_?" he asked when standing in front of her. "Did you see Sirius Black?"

Eleana looked away with guilt exposed in her statue. This confirmed it, and Brant Adela did not want to believe it. He seemed lost for a moment, and Eleana glanced at him with carefulness.

"Father, I'm sorry." She said softly. Brant began to walk slowly around the room, deep in thought.

"But I had to see him, I can't be without him... _I love him_."

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU LOVE HIM!" He suddenly shouted. It made Eleana jump out of fright, and her eyes were filled with tears she could not hold back.

Eithan simply watched quietly from where he was standing. He had never seen his father shout at Eleana this way, he had never seen him this angry with her, ever.

"Listen to me!" Brant said to his daughter while looking at her steadily. "It's too dangerous."

"You mean he's dangerous for me?"

"Yes."

"He is not dangerous at all, he's the opposite."

"In times such as these, he is. Even if you don't see it _I do_. " Brant sounded desperate now, desperate for her to understand.

"I won't give him up." Eleana said, her voice breaking due to tears. Her words were still very clear and it was manifest that she had made up her mind.

Mr Adela closed his eyes for a moment and then turned away from her. He sighed for he was tired, and he felt as if she was slipping away from his grasp and into a place he could not protect her in. Until the day of his death he needed to protect his daughter, it was his obligation as a parent and his love for her was too immense for him to do anything other than that.

The staircase was squeaking mildly as Mrs Adela came down, she stayed at the last step of it and stared at the scene in front of her.

Everyone turned their eyes to her, and Brant was the one who answered her confused expression.

"Melanie, go back to bed I'll handle this." He said, although he didn't seem to have the energy enough to handle it. He did not want his wife to have another seizure, therefore he avoided telling her of tonight's adventures.

Then he gestured for his son follow her upstairs. Eithan understood him and went to his mother. Melanie did not question her husband, she knew herself that she was fragile, and she did not want to know what her husband was avoiding to tell her. If he sought it best to not tell her she trusted his judgement. The mother and son went upstairs.

Brant Adela slowly began to walk towards his office. Eleana watched him go and so she followed.

"Father..?" she spoke timidly.

He kept walking, and they entered his office. Eleana of course wanted her mother to be able to fall back asleep and not cause her anymore pain, she closed the door behind of her.

Her father was turned away from her and was standing by the fireplace, it was smaller than the one in their living room. It was unlit since it was still so warm outside. Brant placed his hand on his forehead, trying to ease the pain from his thoughts. He felt anger boiling up inside of him, the desperation from lack of control was immense. He wanted to protect her so badly, yet he felt helpless.

"I know I'm hurting you by acting this way." She began with her delicate voice. Feelings Brant could not control were taking a hold of him.

"But I can't help it, I wouldn't be seeing him if I had the power to ignore the strong feelings I have for him." Eleana was speaking from her heart. "I can't help it father... and I need you to trust me when I tell you that he's not at all bad for me."

He turned around to look at her, sadness reflecting in his elderly blue eyes.

"_I love him_."

"You don't know what love is." he said tiresome.

"I do know." She said. "and I know he loves me too."

"How can you be so sure? You know nothing of love"

"I do know." She stated. "He looks at me the exact way you look at mother, with fondness."

Brant looked at his daughter with a more steady look. The way she was comparing his love for his wife to Sirius affections for Eleana was aggravating him.

"Is that not what you want for me? To find someone who loves me and who I love back, someone who treats me with respect? He_ is_ right for me."

"HE IS _NOT _RIGHT FOR YOU!"

Eleana looked away, she hated the way he shouted at her. It sent unpleasant chills through her everytime.

He sighed heavily. "You can't see him again."

"I refuse to let him go."

Brant wasn't a violent man, he rarely used violence as a weapon. He was more for words and reason. But now he was tired, he was desperate, and he was afraid, a combination that led him in a terrible direction. "Then I must make you."

Eleana stared at him, not entirely understanding what he was about to do.

It was with aching unwillingness Mr Adela pulled out his wand from beneath his robe, and with a steady expression he raised it towards his daughter. He was careful not to let tears escape from his eyes as he did what he sought necessary.

* * *

**Author's note: Sorry. In desperate times people make rash decisions. The story is taking a darker turn, as you probably can tell.**

**The following chapter will be up next week, and thank you for supporting my story although it has flaws, I know. Take care ;) **


	22. Making a Choice

Already the next day Sirius began to fear something might be wrong, since she didn't show up on the place they had agreed to meet.

**16 August, 1977**

It had been weeks since Sirius last saw Eleana. He had tried to enter the garden in order to find her, but the barrier had been strongly improved, making it impossible for him to get inside. This upgrade made him immediately suspect something was wrong. He had also told her the night when they lay beneath the stars that she could come visit him if she ever found the time to, she knew his address. Though she had not visited him, she had not sent any letters, there was just silence from her. Should she not have tried to contact him by now? She wouldn't leave him like this.

"ELEANA!" Sirius shouted from behind the gate. It was late evening but he did not care. The seventeen year old boy was shouting on the top of his lungs for her. He did so repeatedly.

"What ghastly sound it that?" Mrs Adela said and turned around in her stool to look at Brant.

Mr Adela who was about to unbutton his white shirt which he had wore under his robe when he suddenly heard the sound, met his wife's eyes. Then as he heard it again he went to the window and saw the figure of a young rebellious man by their gate. Brant tensed his jaw by the sight and then shut the green curtains.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." He said and left the bedroom to first check his daughter's room before he went downstairs. When he opened the door she was still there, he thankfully took a deep breath and saw her standing by the window. She was looking at Sirius, but she wasn't moving or indicating to go see him. Dressed in her nightclothes, she turned her head and looked at her father with crossed arms, appearing poignant.

He knew she wouldn't go out there, so he closed the door and went downstairs. In the hall he was met by Eithan. He was standing by the window next to the door, observing Sirius. He turned around when his father approached him.

"Should I kill him?" he asked.

Brant Adela stared at him, merely two weeks ago his son had officially become a death eater. Even though he certainly resented the young man, and was extremely annoyed by his appearance here tonight he could not order him dead.

"No." He said firmly. "I'll take care of it, you go to bed."

Eithan narrowed his eyes and was first hesitant to do as he said. Then, after struggling with certain thoughts he nodded and went upstairs.

Mr Adela opened the front door and went down the black marble steps and onto the gravel way. He took long steps but did not rush when walking towards Sirius.

When the young man saw him coming he became quiet and waited until he was standing on the other side of the gate. Sirius wasn't afraid, he knew how to protect himself and he only felt rage towards the aged man in front of him.

"I advice you go home." Brant said, with intimidating steadiness in his eyes.

"Where's Eleana?" Sirius asked, only caring for her safety.

"She's asleep." He replied easily.

"I want to see her."

"Well she doesn't want to see you."

"I don't think I trust your word for it."

Brant stepped closer to the gate, nearly touching it with his nose as he narrowed his eyes. "Whatever it is you want with my daughter, you _can't_ have it."

"I'm not asking for your permission." Sirius replied coldly as he stepped closer to the man.

"You damn well should!" Brant shouted heatedly.

Sirius straightened his posture slightly, not taking his eyes off of Mr Adela. He was within arm's reach now. "Let me see her."

"No."

"ELEANA!"

"Shut it!"

"Or what?" Sirius taunted, his eyes gleaming fiercely. "You'll kill me?"

Brant hesitated before answering, he seemed to be calming down a bit. "I bloody well should." He then said with a tired voice. This boy was going to give him a stroke.

Sirius was waiting.

"But I won't... Now I want you off my property."

"Not until I get to see her."

Brant looked at him and he did not flinch; this young man was dead serious. "Fine" he replied. He could not have him standing out here making noise all night. "I'll ask her to come down, and it's entirely up to her if she wants to see you or not."

Sirius gave him a nod, and Brant turned around to go back into the house.

"If no one comes out I'll continue to shout-"

"Yes, yes... I got it." Mr Adela answered while waving his hand once at Sirius, feeling utmost irritated.

Sirius waited for more than ten minutes, keeping track of time with his silver watch. He was about to start shouting again when someone opened the front door. The beating of his heart became more prominent, but then when he saw who it was the blissful feeling immediately left him.

Brant Adela was walking towards him, without his daughter. He did not show any sign of being pleased, although Sirius knew the pompous bastard was.

"As I told you: she does not want to see you." Mr Adela said calmly. "She declined." He added.

"Why doesn't she come down here and tell me in person?"

He ignored Sirius' question and picked up a letter from his pocket. "She has a letter for you." He said and reached it out to Sirius through the bars of the gate.

Sirius didn't hesitate to take it but he did so with cautiousness. Also, he did not want to touch the gate for when he last did it burned him. A scald was still visible on his hand from the attempt.

He opened it and read, and as he did he did not want to believe it. But it was unmistakably her handwriting, and he could even smell the scent of roses she possessed from the parchment. He read it again to make sure that it really was her, he could not believe it.

"Now I expect you to keep it down and let my family sleep." Brant Adela said, and with a last stare at the distraught reading Sirius he left.

Sirius read it over and over again until he was completely dismal. He did not know if he should be angry or sad, nor what he should do.

Suddenly he decided to be angry, and so he pressed the letter against the gate until it caught on fire. Then he let it go and watched it burn on the ground amongst the small rocks. Enraged, he hopped on his motorcycle and stamped with force; The engine roared and he drove away.

* * *

_Dear Sirius,_

_After we departed that night I got to thinking, and I've realised that I must make a final choice. You wanted me to make one, remember? Well now I have; I'm choosing to let you go. _

_It's better we end it now and not when someone has been hurt too greatly. Please respect my choice and go on with your life. _

_I won't see you again, don't ask me to. _

_-Eleana_

* * *

Eleana watched the motorbike lift into the air with Sirius on it. When he was out of sight she let go of the curtain she had been holding aside and went to her bed. The pen she had been using while writing the letter lay on her dressing table. Not wanting to look at it she turned her head to the wall as she laid down.

When her father had handed her the quill he had said, "Write something decent now."

She had done so while wanting to slap herself for every word. What was Sirius thinking now? He must hate her. Tears streamed down her dark temple when she closed her eyes to agonise the pain.

* * *

Sirius hammered on the front door with his fist. He could not be alone after this, his instincts told him to set his mind on something else. It was likely it was dangerous for him to be alone.

A sleepy James opened the front door and scratched his head while looking at Sirius. "What are you doing here?" he asked, obviously confused. "I think you woke up my parents." His head turned to the stairs behind him, then he looked at Sirius again and was even more confused by his expression.

"Can I come in?"

"Of course..." he said as Sirius moved past him "but Sirius what...?"

"It's Eleana" Sirius said when they had entered the pleasant living room. He had always liked this living room, and the whole house and its people too for that matter.

"James, who was it?" Mrs Potter called from upstairs.

James Potter turned to the stairs and said with volume, "It's only Sirius, you can go back to sleep mom."

"Oh, alright. Well say 'hello' to him for me will you?"

"Yes, mom." James said and then closed the door before turning to Sirius who had placed himself on the couch. He was staring at the ceiling.

"Mom says 'hello.' "

"I heard" Sirius mumbled.

"Now what is it with Eleana? She hurt? "

Sirius swallowed. "She finally made a choice." He shook his head bitterly afterwards. "and she did not choose me."

James raised his brows. "Well she's mad not to." He said.

"She didn't even care to tell me in person, she just wrote a plain letter... I never expected that of her." Sirius did not meet James' eyes, instead he kept staring at the wooden beam in the ceiling. "I guess I was wrong."

"and you're sure it was she who wrote it? Since from what you've told me her family seems capable of anything, and you don't think they-"

"No, it was she who wrote it." He cut James' sentence. "I know she did... but still, it was so sudden."

"Do you know why?"

"Yes... She told me she wanted to end it so that no one would get further hurt." what he said was followed by a small silence.

"But now you're hurt." James announced.

Sirius looked at his friend who was sitting in his red pyjamas. What he told him was true, and the way he said it made Sirius realise just how hurt he was. "She told me I had asked her to make a choice, and I had... but I didn't want her to choose _wrong._" He bent forward and placed his elbows on each knee. "I wanted her to choose me of course. I thought she would take her time, and she did, up until now she has struggled with the choice... and in the end I thought she would eventually pick me. I was too proud to think otherwise" He stood up on his feet without looking at James. "I was a fool."

"Don't let her get to you like this. She has before, several times I might add, and every time you're the one who ends up being hurt." James sounded irritated. He never really liked Eleana, he had tried to since Sirius was so fond of her, yet he never really got a chance to like her since all he had gotten from her was a devastated best friend. It was sort of all he knew of her, how she could _hurt._

"She has made her choice." Sirius went over to stand by the bureau across the room, his eyes resided in looking at some of the Potter's family photos. Even Sirius was in one of them. "I don't understand though... why she chooses to stay with her family. They're so..."

"Weird? Bizarre? Evil?" James suggested.

Sirius turned his head to at him with an odd look. "Yes." He nodded, and then turned to the photos again. "I don't understand. From what I've seen they don't even treat her well, although she assures me they do, I don't believe her."

"At least her brother can't be a sweetheart"

"No, he's a death eater and a complete arse if you ask me."

James grinned. "It was wickedly brilliant the way you smashed him off of his broomstick."

"He must have gotten some bruises after that."

"and some broken bones too I hope."

They both burst into laughter, and Sirius suddenly felt a little bit better. He knew he had done right by coming here. His best friend could always cheer him up, no matter what had happened.

Sometime later the laughter slowly died out, and there was silence which caused Sirius to dwell on his thoughts again. "I love her." He then said solemnly.

"You love her?"

"I love her." Sirius looked at James who was staring at him with raised brows. He sighed. "I do."

* * *

**Author's note: Thank you very much for the wonderful feedback I have received! It definitely gives me a boost to write. **

**I****'m trying to stay a few chapters ahead so I won't have to become completely stressed out every week when I have to upload a new chapter, because I want to do it on a regular basis. But things are pretty stressfull anyway since I have so many other things to do. However I have promised you to finish this story and so I will, there's no need for you to doubt that. Now, have a lovely weekend everyone ;)**


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